Rhyl resident ‘stuffed’ by school traffic repeatedly blocking driveway

The resident, who asked not to be named, lives on Edgbaston Road, which is near Ysgol Bryn Hedydd, on Spruce Avenue.

At about 3.15pm on Monday (November 6), he took the above picture of his driveway, showing parked cars preventing him from leaving.

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This, he said, has been an ongoing problem for some time, but was exacerbated by Denbighshire County Council (DCC)’s “School Street” trial at Ysgol Bryn Heddyd last month.

Ysgol Bryn Heddyd, Rhyl (Image: GoogleMaps)

Spruce Avenue was closed for this trial to encourage pupils to walk, cycle or “wheel” all or some of their way to school, but the resident said this merely “shifted” traffic onto his and other nearby roads.

The resident said: “If you’ve got to be somewhere at school drop-off and pick-up times, you’re stuffed.

“That (blocked driveway) is something we have to put up with on a daily basis. How am I meant to leave my drive?

“Edgbaston Road is a no through road, but if an ambulance was ever to come down, it couldn’t. They (parents) are double-parking, and parking on the junction. They just don’t care.

“When I’ve contacted the school, they’ve told me it’s a police matter, because it’s on a public highway outside of school grounds.

“If you approach these parents, some are quite polite and move if they can, but others either give you grief or tell you they’ll only be 10 minutes.”

The resident suggested whether a possible alternative could be for Ysgol Bryn Hedydd to use some of its own land as parking space.

This, he believes, would be a safer option that the current state of affairs.

Previously, he added, his own child has struggled to get to school in Prestatyn, or doctor’s appointments have been missed, due to cars blocking his driveway.

He added: “Times change, and there are more kids at the school now, and so more traffic, but they’ve not made it safer for them to be dropped off and picked up.

“I think they should use some of the school’s own grounds as parking space. I think that would be safer for the kids, rather than having parents just driving down roads and parking anywhere they can.

“You’ve got kids coming out of school, walking in-between cars going up and down roads. It won’t be long before a kid gets run over.

“Our child goes to school in Prestatyn, and there have been times where we’ve been unable to take them to school, or have had to miss doctor’s appointments.

“Then you have to be careful that you don’t get taken off things like doctor’s lists for doing a ‘no-show’.

“Spruce Avenue might look great now, but only because all of the cars have started parking down Edgbaston Road instead. They’ve just shifted the problem.”

DCC held the “School Street” trial, in partnership with walking and cycling charity, Sustrans, at Ysgol Bryn Hedydd, Ysgol y Castell (Rhuddlan), Ysgol Bryn Collen and Ysgol Y Gwernant (both Llangollen) last month.

Last month, a mother of a pupil at Ysgol Bryn Hedydd told the Journal, prior to the trial, that  the plans were marred by “frustrating timing” and “little explanation”.

In response, a spokesperson for DCC said: “The impact of all School Street trials is currently being evaluated by Sustrans, who are working on behalf of DCC.

“We’ve noted that the resident is suggesting that the existing parking problems on Edgbaston Road have been exacerbated by, and since, the trial.

“We will forward their comments to Sustrans to include in their evaluation of the trial at Ysgol Bryn Hedydd, because displacement of parking is one of the factors to be considered.

“We would encourage the resident to contact us to consider whether they’d wish to apply for an access protection marking (known as a H-marking).

“Although not legally enforceable, they are a simple way to help highlight the presence of an access, to discourage inconsiderate parking.”