There was a frosty start to the morning with some dazzling sunshine. The River Thames though Abingdon is like a mirror reflecting the houses and the boats and cars along Wilsham Road .
The water within Abingdon Marina is an even more brilliant mirror
until some ducks churn it up.
Back in 1987 you could have picked up properties at Abingdon Marina from £139,500. That was about the time we moved to Abingdon into a two bed semi in Riley Close for just over £40,000.
Since 1987, and probably long before then, Wilsham Road has been used as an all day car park – with no waiting restrictions and not too far to walk to town.
Commuter parking along Wilsham Road means no opportunity for tourists to park and admire our river!
Parking should be restricted to four hours, with no return the same day!!
Oops, we no longer have a street traffic warden to enforce it!!!
Where will the commuters park? They come and work in out town and help with its prosperity and services.
Super pictures.
The free parking by the rive should remain in place. It’s about the only thing we get for free these days!
Also, the traffic is so woeful coming from Drayton it’s quicker to park by the river and walk than it is to queue all along Ock Street to get into town.
Steve let me put it from a residents perspective? In principle none of us object to the parking along here, but the implications of it are numerous,
1, the carriage way is in effect reduced to single lane and given most traffic heads into town what happens all day and everyday is vehicles mount the pavement at the first drop kerb past Saxtonand drive the length of the road to the last drop kerb at speed on the pavement- it’s not an accident waiting to happen, it’s a fatality!
Two years ago I gave OCC cctv footage of 12 cars in under two minutes drive st speed along the path and asked they take action, they sent a member of their traffic management team out who after watching proceedings declared there is a major problem here, she came back to me with a plan to create a series of passing bays by yellow lining, but then went on to say council could not afford it but if us residents want to give her s cheque for £3k she would have consultants draw up a scheme from which she would then want us to pay another £4K to have it implicated!
There’s not a week goes by without a bump of some sort,car doors opened onto cyclists, wing mirror s knocked off, bumpers damaged etc, then you have the people living in flats in town with no parking, one guy has 3 cars perminantly parked here, another car has been here for 5 months! Remember that while workers are parked here all day long you are denying shoppers from parking here too denying the town footfall and while we sympathise with your situation you are causing many issues not least (as has been mentioned) denying visitors anywhere to park.
I took this up with Tvp who replied speak to your council, it wouldn’t happen in Henley or Marlow!
Then as you say we have the rat run, and not just st peak times, from 11pm onwards it’s a race track for taxis trying to get back to the rank ASAP, when dropping off in south Abingdon or Morland green/ Drayton it’s quicker for them to go down Preston rd, along Wilsham, over the bridge and into town rather than go through the 11 sets of lights if they go via ock bridge/street and around town!
Then there is the Iron bridge issue, every day umpteen vehicles cross it the wrong way, more often than not by the same people too, mums on the school run, delivery drivers, taxis ( especially the guy in the London cab) we’ve been hit twice crossing the road there, so Steve it’s not just a case of bagging some free parking, it’s the knock on effect it causes!
Good points, well made. Particularly the point about the impact of new flats without parking.