Parking Ban Introduced To Boost Safety

New parking restrictions have been put in place on a main road in Market Harborough and near a primary school.

Double yellow lines have been painted on parts of Coventry Road and Fairfield Road, near Market Harborough C of E Academy, in a bid to boost safety and stop drivers parking on cycle lanes.

A new ‘park and stride’ scheme will be introduced later this year to allow parents to use the Doddridge Road car park to drop children off at the start and end of the school day.

However, some parents say the use of the nearer Angel Street car park would be a better option.

Double yellow lines have been placed on Coventry Road and Fairfield Road

Leicestershire County Council has apologised for putting the measures in place with no advance warning to drivers.

A spokesperson told HFM: “We want to apologise to residents for putting in the lines earlier than planned.

“The lines are designed to reinforce that drivers shouldn’t be parking on the existing cycle lane to ensure cyclists can use these facilities safely as intended.

“We’re also working with Harborough District Council on a new park and stride scheme for Market Harborough Church of England Academy, to reduce congestion, boost walking, cut carbon emissions and provide parents an alternative place to park.

“A similar scheme has been in place at St Joseph’s Catholic Voluntary Academy for a number of months already and has proved to be very successful.

“We’ll be running a campaign about the initiative prior to the schools returning in September.”

New parking restriction on Fairfield Road

Elaine Bird, Head of Regulatory Services at Harborough District Council, said: “We have been discussing options with Market Harborough Church of England Primary School to see if we can find a practical solution to the parking issues that some parents and carers are experiencing.

“We understand the difficulties that parents and carers can encounter when dropping off and picking up their children.

“The council will continue to work with schools in the Harborough district where possible to ease issues with on-street parking at peak times of the school day.”