Skip to main content

Walsall Street, Avondale – Removal of P120 Parking Restrictions Walsall Street, Avondale – Removal of P120 Parking Restrictions

Proposal status: Closed

Reference number: RTV-450

Proposal outcome

In November 2022, we proposed changes to improve the parking condition along Walsall Street in Avondale by removing the 2-hour (P120) parking restriction on one side of the road.

After carefully considering community feedback, we are not proceeding with the proposal.

Community feedback

Thank you for helping us make better decisions for your neighbourhood, informed by your local knowledge. We heard oppositions from Walsall Street residents about the proposed changes. There were also suggestions to reduce the width of the berm to accommodate parking or implement a residential parking zone. However, we feel that these are not appropriate to apply at the current time. On this basis, we will not be proceeding with the proposal. Here are our responses to the summary of feedback we received:

Residential parking permits

  • Suggestion to introduce (unlimited) parking permits to residents to address residents' parking problems.
    Resident parking permits are issued under a Residential Parking Zone (RPZ). Residential Parking Zones are primarily designed for areas such as Ponsonby or Saint Mary's Bay, where there are several heritage properties that either do not have off-street parking or have limited provision to create one on the property. Since almost all properties on Walsall Street have off-street parking, we have no plans at this stage to consider this area as an RPZ. Learn more about resident parking zones and permit allocation.

Parking restriction

  • Suggestion to introduce paid parking to improve availability for others who need to park.
    When parking demand reaches a point where time restrictions are not being effective, AT will recommend paid parking. Time restrictions work well in encouraging turnover where there is low to medium parking demand. Walsall Street is currently within this range. We will continue to monitor the parking usage and if any parking availability issues are identified, we will create a new proposal.
  • Suggestion to remove the restriction on the northern side of Walsall Street and maintain the restriction on the southern side on weekdays.
    We will not be progressing with this option at this time. We originally proposed to remove the P120 parking restriction on the south side of Walsall Street as this option would provide more unrestricted parking spaces available for long-stay parkers.
  • Suggestion to put broken yellow lines on areas under the existing P120 restriction to prevent traffic congestion on Walsall Street due to vehicle influx.
    Broken yellow lines may be helpful in reducing traffic congestion on arterial roads and high-volume traffic roads, however, excessive use of broken yellow lines on local roads can result in high-speed environment. Therefore, replacing parking time restrictions with broken yellow lines will not be ideal as it may result in high-speed traffic on Walsall Street.
    While parked vehicles may reduce the traffic flow on Walsall Street to a single lane, there are opportunities where opposing vehicles can pass at driveways. Currently, this behaviour does not cause excessive delays. Parked vehicles also discourage drivers from speeding as it gives the impression of a narrow road, encouraging greater care when driving. Walsall Street is 7.2m wide. This allows 2m of parallel parking on either side of the road while still allowing 3.2m of a thorough lane for easy access.

Vehicle access and congestion

  • Request to remove parking spaces entirely as it causes access issues, especially during rubbish collection.
    We appreciate the concern raised, however Walsall Street is 7.2m wide and is therefore not considered a narrow road. Walsall Street allows 2m of parallel parking on either side of the road while still allowing 3.2m of a thorough lane for easy access of vehicles, including emergency services and rubbish collection trucks.
  • Suggestion to address the access and congestion issues in Walsall Street by narrowing the grass berms.
    The grass berms on Walsall Street are on average 3.6m in width so they are wide enough to accommodate a parked vehicle however, we have no budget to progress such a proposal. It would be necessary to remove trees and relocate power poles which are currently within the berm on both sides of Walsall Street. In addition, a stormwater drain runs beneath the berm on the northern side so creating parking on that side would involve additional costs and works to ensure that the pipe was not damaged by a parked vehicle and that access was available for servicing. There are two sections of berm on the southern side not affected by water pipes, however, as Walsall Street is wide enough to accommodate on-street parking on both sides there would be no real benefit from undertaking such expenditure.
    As Walsall Street is a local road with a daily traffic count of 880 vehicles, we do not think congestion is such an issue that requires parking to be removed.

Miscellaneous

  • Suggestion for AT to partner with private operators and launch a "Carshare Programme" in Avondale as response to growing parking, traffic congestion and gas emission issues.
    We have worked with shared vehicle operators to provide the best mobility solutions to the community in different areas of Auckland. We would suggest requesting a car share space to our partners through Mevo or City Hop to extend their service in the Avondale area. Learn more about AT's car share policy. 

We're proposing improvements in your area

Aucklanders have told us that moving around our city safely and easily is important to them. We are proposing some improvements to your area.

In response to community requests, we are proposing to remove the 2-hour (P120) parking restriction on one side of Walsall Street in Avondale, between Roberton Road and Great North Road, to improve parking availability for residents and visitors in this area.

We are proposing to:

  • Remove the P120 parking restriction on the southern side of Walsall Street. Parking spaces on the southern side of Walsall Street will be converted to unrestricted parking. This will create 22 additional unrestricted parking spaces for residents.

    The existing P120 parking restrictions on the northern side of Walsall Street will remain.

Download the proposal drawing for Walsall Street (PDF 311KB) 

We are proposing these changes to address parking availability concerns raised by residents. Converting the southern side of Walsall Street to unrestricted parking will create 22 additional unrestricted parking spaces.

These proposed changes are expected to provide more parking spaces among residents and visitors to the nearby Avondale Police Station. Short-term parking for visitors will still be available as the P120 parking restriction on the northern side of Walsall Street will remain.

What happens next

  • We’ll listen to all the feedback we receive, and then decide the best way to move forward.
  • We’ll post the outcome of this proposal and a summary of community feedback on this webpage.
  • We can email you the proposal outcome as soon as it’s ready – just select that option when you fill in the survey.

Avondale: Safe with us

Auckland Transport cares for your safety. We want to make our roads safe for everyone, people walking and cycling, especially for our kids and senior citizens and people driving. Projects like this one around Walsall Street are another step towards our goal of achieving no deaths or serious injuries on our roads. We are guided by the Vision Zero approach to transport safety, which prioritises human safety over other measures (like minor time saving).