Big car? Too small a space? A few too many scratches along the sides? We’ve widened the spaces in some of our city centre car parks to make it easier for folks driving bigger cars to get in and out of spaces.
Parking spaces were standardised in the 1970s when Morris Minors and Ford Escorts were all the rage and it’s fair to say cars are now a lot longer and wider.
While we know this is not exactly a key action in our climate change action plan, let’s face it, big cars are not going away any time soon and many are super-efficient clean, green, safer machines…
So far there are:
• 127 Western Approach – with 107 wider spaces on level 5 alone
• 63 Regent St – 30 on level 7 and 33 level 8
• 84 Theatre Royal – across most floors but level 11 has the most, with 28 spaces
• 82 Mayflower East – 40 on level 5 and 42 on level 6
• 75 Napier Terrace – 75 on the top level
• 55 Colin Campbell Court car park
Altogether there are now over 430 wider bays across five of the city’s multi storey car parks with around 370 being created in the last 12 months. It’s a work in progress and these spaces are being created when resurfacing and other improvement work is carried out.
Councillor Mark Lowry, Cabinet for Finance, who is also city centre champion said: “We’re listening. People have complained that the spaces were too small, so we’re making them bigger. Cars are expensive, repairs are expensive, so anything that helps reduce the likelihood of a prang as they open their door is welcome.”
City Centre Manager Steve Hughes said: “This is good stuff. Many of us have been there, struggling to get out of the driving seat because it is so tight. We want shoppers and visitors to enjoy their time here in the city centre without worrying about their cars.”
The average UK parking bay size is 2.4m wide by 4.8m long. They're designed to sizes which haven't changed since the 1970s, even though cars have got a lot bigger since then. The latest Mini One model is 53 per cent bigger than its first model, for instance and a Range Rover Discovery Sport is over two metres wide.