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Extended loading on double yellow lines
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Roland_Sausage
Posts: 725 Forumite
in Motoring
A friend of mine is moving house at the weekend and has asked me to assist, so I have arranged to hire a van for a couple of days. The only thing that concerns me is the parking situation and how the authorities may react to it.
He lives on the third floor of an old tenement block on what I would probably call an arterial route, near the city centre. The road is 2 lanes in each direction with a cycle lane as well. There are double yellow lines down the road and no provision for residents parking. He doesn't have a car himself.
Obviously we need to park the van outside the block to get all his stuff onto it. I know it is far from ideal, but the only practical way to do this is to park straddling the cycle lane and pavement (the pavement is pretty wide and there will still be over a metre of space left) and this will allow both vehicle lanes to remain clear.
I know the authorities sometimes give you 15 minutes grace period when loading/unloading, but realistically it is going to take a lot longer than this to get all this stuff from the 3rd floor, negotiate the stairs, etc. Possibly an hour or 2.
Parking half a kilometre away and carrying a fridge, wardrobes, washing machines is obviously not practical, and nor is piling up all the furniture and appliances at the bottom of the stairs in order to get it onto the van as quickly as possible (fire hazard).
The only thing I can think of is to get a third person to watch the van, and either try to negotiate with traffic wardens, or at least tip us off about it.
The whole thing is less than ideal to be honest, but do traffic wardens tend to excuse this sort of thing, or should he just add the cost of a FPN to his budget? People must move house all the time and have to face this situation!
Any other suggestions?
He lives on the third floor of an old tenement block on what I would probably call an arterial route, near the city centre. The road is 2 lanes in each direction with a cycle lane as well. There are double yellow lines down the road and no provision for residents parking. He doesn't have a car himself.
Obviously we need to park the van outside the block to get all his stuff onto it. I know it is far from ideal, but the only practical way to do this is to park straddling the cycle lane and pavement (the pavement is pretty wide and there will still be over a metre of space left) and this will allow both vehicle lanes to remain clear.
I know the authorities sometimes give you 15 minutes grace period when loading/unloading, but realistically it is going to take a lot longer than this to get all this stuff from the 3rd floor, negotiate the stairs, etc. Possibly an hour or 2.
Parking half a kilometre away and carrying a fridge, wardrobes, washing machines is obviously not practical, and nor is piling up all the furniture and appliances at the bottom of the stairs in order to get it onto the van as quickly as possible (fire hazard).
The only thing I can think of is to get a third person to watch the van, and either try to negotiate with traffic wardens, or at least tip us off about it.
The whole thing is less than ideal to be honest, but do traffic wardens tend to excuse this sort of thing, or should he just add the cost of a FPN to his budget? People must move house all the time and have to face this situation!
Any other suggestions?
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Comments
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Contact your local Council and ask for a dispensation permit. Can be hard with hire vehicles as they sometimes ask for the registration number which you won't necessarily know in advance. Some Councils will instruct parking wardens to unofficially "ignore" a vehicle.The man without a signature.0
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Loading is allowed (unless specifically prohibited) so no worries there.
Do NOT straddle the pavement - that is a crime in itself - better to create a bottleneck legally than get a ticket for illegal use of the pavement..
My advice is get an extra bod to stay with the vehicle so it is attended at all times - my usual is to have the rear or side door/doors open and one item on the ground 'ready to load'.
That way it is immediately obvious to any passing 'uniform' what is going on.
Just avoid rush-hour.0 -
Loading is allowed (unless specifically prohibited) so no worries there.
Do NOT straddle the pavement - that is a crime in itself - better to create a bottleneck legally than get a ticket for illegal use of the pavement..
My advice is get an extra bod to stay with the vehicle so it is attended at all times - my usual is to have the rear or side door/doors open and one item on the ground 'ready to load'.
That way it is immediately obvious to any passing 'uniform' what is going on.
Just avoid rush-hour.
Loading is allowed for 20 minutes providing their are no restrictions to loading at certain types of day eg single pips on the pavement or no loading at any time eg double pips on the pavement.0 -
A lot will depend on the local borough rules.
Check with the council offices and be honest - tell them what you need to do.
In London 40 minutes is generally the norm.
But see the Freight Transport Assoc, advice:
http://www.fta.co.uk/export/sites/fta/_galleries/downloads/pcns/drivercard_1.pdf
But I must repeat - do not park on the pavement - many amateur drivers do it thinking they are helping to avoid an obstruction - not so.
You are permitted to load and unload - it's just the time limits that vary.
The answer of course is to transport only what you can load in 40 minutes or whatever and make more trips.
Obviously that doesn't help if you are moving stuff from Plymouth to Newcastle.
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Like I said, it is likely to take way longer than 20 minutes. No restrictions other that the double yellows.
I certainly will be avoiding rush hour as it will be at the weekend, although it is a route heavily used by buses.
I hadn't thought of the council route but will give that a try. They do normally ask for the registration as I have had to phone them at work for permission to overstay the 1 hour restrictions, but it is still worth a try.0 -
A lot will depend on the local borough rules.
Check with the council offices and be honest - tell them what you need to do.
In London 40 minutes is generally the norm.
But see the Freight Transport Assoc, advice:
http://www.fta.co.uk/export/sites/fta/_galleries/downloads/pcns/drivercard_1.pdf
But I must repeat - do not park on the pavement - many amateur drivers do it thinking they are helping to avoid an obstruction - not so.
You are permitted to load and unload - it's just the time limits that vary.
The answer of course is to transport only what you can load in 40 minutes or whatever and make more trips.
Obviously that doesn't help if you are moving stuff from Plymouth to Newcastle.
Nah, he won't be moving that far. Although it is about an hour away so was hoping to do it in as few trips as possible.
Thanks for the advice re the pavement. I was under the impression that as long as you left something like 1.2m of space it was OK. This is the case when causing other temporary obstructions on the pavement (digging, etc) but I suppose it doesn't apply to parking on it.
I think you are right. Being honest with the council is probably the best way. And if they refuse, then will have someone keep lookout :rotfl:0 -
It is only an offence to park on the pavement if local byelaws restrict it outside of London or you are causing an obstruction. Leave room for a wheelchair to pass and there is no offence unless byelaws say otherwise.
In London it's an offence to park on the pavement at any time.0 -
It is outside London.0
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Roland_Sausage wrote: »Nah, he won't be moving that far. Although it is about an hour away so was hoping to do it in as few trips as possible.
load for 40 mins and then take the van to mcdonalds and back?0 -
Ive parked on double yellows for hours, Delivering several pallets of items to s shop with just 2 people to offload took ages.
Usually they ignore you if they can see you offloading. Its when they see the vehicle parked and little or no activity that they start giving tickets out.
Only had one traffic warden get stroppy and ask how long i will be, I just said it depends when they open up the loading bay and come out to get their stuff.
I did say he could go in and tell them he will hgave to move me on if he doesnt see any activitiy but he declined and went on his way.
What do i care, Give me a ticket, I wont have to pay it. I just hand it in to the transport department on the way back.Censorship Reigns Supreme in Troll City...0
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