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Balmain Road, Chatswood – Broken Yellow Lines Balmain Road, Chatswood – Broken Yellow Lines

Proposal status: Feedback closed 30 April 2021

Reference number: BYL-504

Proposal outcome

In April 2021, we proposed changes to improve vehicle access in Balmain Road, Chatswood. This proposal originated from requests made by residents who were experiencing difficulty accessing their properties due to parked cars on the street. After reviewing all the feedback and discussions at the site with residents and users of the reserve, we have revised the proposal and will be proceeding with the following changes:

We are reducing the total length of the broken yellow lines from 190 meters to 83 metres and implementing these in two small sections of Balmain Road only. We are now planning to install broken yellow lines:

  • Extending 31 metres to the east of the driveway at no. 165 Balmain Road.
    This stretch of Balmain Road is narrow and therefore requires parking restrictions to ensure vehicles park on one side of the road only. As the road is too narrow in this section to legally park a vehicle on both sides of the street, there is no loss of parking in this stretch as parking is still available on the southern kerb.
  • Around the turning head at the end of the cul-de-sac.
    This is to allow a safe place for vehicles to turn around at the end of the street to ensure pedestrian access is maintained at the entrance of the reserve. This will result in the loss of 7 parking spaces.

These works will help support our Vision Zero goal.

Download the updated drawing for Balmain Road (PDF 181KB)

What happens next

We anticipate these changes will be implemented by the end of July 2021.

Community feedback

Thank you for helping us make better decisions for your neighbourhood, informed by your local knowledge.  The community feedback we received was very valuable in helping us to understand the needs of the community and visitors to Kauri Point Reserve. We received a mix of feedback, some noted that they support the original proposed changes as they feel the road is unsafe now and there is difficulty for larger vehicles including the rubbish trucks to enter and exit. Other feedback was in objection to the loss of carparking near Kauri Point Reserve and concerns around decreased accessibility to the reserve for those with mobility issues or young families, due to the steep incline of the hill. We also received several suggestions to reduce the length of the broken yellow lines, as well as requests to include the restrictions only in the end of the cul-de-sac or on one side of the street only. This feedback has helped us to decide on a revised approach which minimises the number of carparks removed but will still improve access and safety around the Balmain Road entrance to Kauri Point Reserve.

A summary of your feedback and our responses to community questions is below.

Broken Yellow Lines

  • Suggestion to extend broken yellow lines all the way along Balmain Road.
    Community feedback has demonstrated there is a high demand for parking in the area surrounding the Balmain Road entrance to Kauri Point Reserve. We have revised this plan to minimise loss of parking spaces, and do not believe there would be any benefit to the community by imposing any further parking restrictions than already planned.

Parking

  • Suggestion to do enforcement blitz to stop bad parking behaviours. Belief that installation of broken yellow lines will not stop people from parking.
    It is hoped that these parking restrictions will help discourage drivers from parking in an unsafe manner. However, we encourage regularly reporting any parking infringements our parking enforcement call centre, which operates 24 hours, 7 days a week: 09 355 3553
  • Observation that there are no existing road markings to show where people should or should not park. Suggestion to include car park markings.
    Car park markings would be extremely difficult to achieve in this location due to the nature of the road surface. As there are varying size of vehicles parking in this area, we feel that the space can be more efficiently used without carpark markings in place.
  • Suggestion re-instate small carparking area which used to be available near the end of Balmain Road.
    We understand that there was previously a small car park opposite the driveway of no. 165, but this was allowed to become overgrown due to antisocial behaviours being observed in this location. We would not wish to recreate this problem. Unfortunately, Auckland Transport do not have the control over this land to allow us to implement a carparking area, as it is separate from the roadway.
  • Suggestion to install carparking facilities to accommodate for parking loss. Suggestion to widen Kauri Road and install parking near the Kauri Point reserve entrance. Concern that parking restrictions will mean vehicles are forced to park in surrounding streets and/or further up Balmain Road.
    The revised plan allows for carparking of 23 vehicles to the west of the junction with Kauri Road. Therefore, we do not believe it will be necessary to provide any additional carparking in the surrounding streets and consider the risk of parking displacement to be low.
  • Suggestion to re-level the lower stretch of Balmain Road and install kerbs and channelling to allow for off-street parking.
    This section of Balmain Road is not currently part of the kerb and channel programme and to our knowledge there are no plans to include Balmain Road within this programme.
  • Suggestion to install "no turning past this point” signage at the intersection of Balmain Road and Kauri Road. Observation that waste collection vehicles currently have to turn around at no. 165.
    The revised plan will prohibit parking within the turning head at the end of Balmain Road. This will allow sufficient space in the cul-de-sac for large vehicles to turn around and therefore do not believe a “no turning past this point” sign will be necessary.
  • Suggestion to implement P120 parking restrictions near the park entrance to deter long-term vehicle parking in this area.
    Parking restrictions encourage turnover in areas of high parking demand and while demand is constant in this area,  AT does not feel that a time restriction is warranted at this location.

General

  • Concern about unclear proposal aims, and that the original complaints may be from a single resident.
    We received requests from multiple residents to investigate this issue, with the intention to improve vehicle access on Balmain Road.
  • Suggestion to widen turning circle at entrance to Kauri Point Reserve.
    The revised plan involves parking restrictions around the turning circle at the entrance to the reserve. We believe this will ensure ample turning space for vehicles and therefore we will not be widening the turning circle as part of this project.
  • Request to install a footpath on lower stretch of Balmain Road. Suggestion to improve the carriageway between the right of way and locked gate at park entrance.
    Balmain Road is currently not part of the new footpath programme though we will pass this request to the team which manages that programme.
  • Concern that visibility and access for vehicles entering and exiting properties on Balmain Road is often restricted by vehicles parking too close to driveways.
    Parking within 1 metre of any vehicle access is prohibited. We recommend regularly reporting these infringements to our parking enforcement call centre, which operates 24 hours, 7 days a week: 09 355 3553.
  • Observation that Ritchie’s buses often park on both sides of the road next to the right-of-ways at numbers 15 and 13, and the corresponding numbers on the opposite side of the road.
    There is an existing Bus Stop outside No 13 and No 22. Parking in a Bus Stop is allowed provided that the driver remains with the vehicle at all times. Should this not be the case, please inform us on 09 355 3553 and we will speak to the operator.
  • Observation that Balmain Road is too narrow in other sections not covered by this proposal.
    While other parts of Balmain Road may be narrow these have not been highlighted to us an issue. Auckland Transport is aware that the removal of on-street parking is not popular, and we prefer to reserve similar proposals for where there is an issue.
  • Request to also install broken yellow lines on Kauri Road.
    While Kauri Road may be narrow it has not been highlighted to us as an issue. Auckland Transport is aware that the removal of on-street parking is not popular, and we prefer to reserve similar proposals for where there is an obvious issue.
  • Concern about lack of action taken towards tree interference with powerlines.
    We recommend contacting Vector to lodge a request for tree maintenance in this area. You can call Vector on 0508 832 867, or find more information about tree trimming near powerlines on their website:
    https://www.vector.co.nz/personal/electricity/what-you-need-to-know/trees-lines

We're proposing improvements in your area

Residents have asked us to address the issue of vehicles parking at the end of Balmain Road, blocking access to the road. We are proposing to paint broken yellow lines (no stopping at all times)and are asking for your views.

The changes we are proposing:

  • Paint broken yellow lines at the end of Balmain Road to allow vehicle access.
  • Removal of 14 on-street parking space on one side of this otherwise narrow road.

Download the proposal drawing for Balmain Road (PDF 239KB)

These changes will allow easy access to the park, as well as allow access to larger vehicles such as emergency services and waste collection services along this road.

Give your feedback for Balmain Road

If you would like to post in your feedback, download and print our feedback form template, fill in your details and send it freepost using the address details on the form.

What happens next

  • We'll consider 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.

Chatswood: 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 Balmain Road 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).