Solving the problem of pavement car parking in residential streets

Ruysdaelstraat in Assen in 2009

Ruysdaelstraat in 2012

Residential areas frequently suffer from problems caused by car parking. This can take the form of cars parked on the road getting in the way of other drivers, cars parked on the road causing cyclists to have to swerve around parked cars (can be dangerous especially for less confident cyclists) or cars parked on the pavements (sidewalks) causing nuisance and danger for pedestrians.

Detail of parking space. Note that the
kerb is angled. It's designed to enable
driving over only at a slow speed.

Such problems can be addressed by redesign of the street, and there are many good examples of this in the Netherlands, including on many streets in Assen such as that shown above. The first picture, from Google Maps, shows how the street used to look up until very recently. The second was taken today as I cycled along this street.

These houses and the street which they are built alongside, date from the 1930s but existing trees on just one side of the road were recently taken up and replaced with trees on both sides of the road combined with parking bays.

Note that while the direction of motorized traffic was changed recently, this street has been one-way except for cyclists for some years. Routes for cyclists are unravelled from those for drivers. This is a useful through route with a bike, but not with a car. This makes yet another example of how segregation of modes is achieved without building cycle-paths.

Other examples:

This street in the newly built suburb of Kloosterveen uses the same design to keep cars off  a series of streets which together form a direct route only by bike. This is the only photo in this blog post of a new development.

A different way of achieving a similar result can be to use concrete setts through which  the grass can grow.

In some areas, bollards are used to control parking, This is a one-way street with cyclists excepted.

The same street, showing how there are again angled kerbs to climb a low speed in order to park one's car.

Sometimes, parking bays are built on-road, alternating from one side to another. This is again a street which makes a good through route for cyclists (linking up with the bridge shown in this video) but which goes nowhere for drivers. In this case, the permitted side of the road for parking alternates, which makes the road meander and serves to slow traffic.

All the streets in these photos have 30 km/h or lower speed limits. In this case with a smooth speed bump with a cycle by-pass on both sides and parking bays for cars on one side of the street. Again this street does not offer a useful through route by car.

The only street in Assen converted into a Woonerf. Here the speed limit is walking pace. Note that cars can park on one side only.

An older treatment showing parking bays on both sides of the road to achieve a similar result.

Another example of cars parked between the road and the pavement (sidewalk)

The bays can be made quite attractive, improving the green look of a neighbourhood rather than  resulting in residential areas looking like car parks.

Work continues right now on the process
of transforming older residential streets

This process of improvement is continuing right now on streets across Assen as more residential streets get this treatment. Where possible there is always enough car parking so as to avoid parked cars becoming a problem. This is how drivers are persuaded not to leave their cars in places which cause problems for cyclists and pedestrians.

In the Netherlands, people are not discouraged from driving by providing inadequate car parking spaces (as has been done to disastrous effect in the UK) but are provided adequate spaces to park their cars while cycling is made attractive by making cycling routes more convenient.


Dutch homes provide secure cycle parking by law but most other countries do not. In either case it's a good idea to use a secure bicycle lock on any parked bicycle.

The highest modal share for cycling in the world works due to carrots, not sticks.

Trying to reduce car usage by restricting residential car parking

Street scene in a new British development

I was delighted to hear on the TV a few weeks ago that Essex in the UK has realised the folly of trying to reduce the usage of cars simply by reducing the availability of spaces to park them in new residential areas.

It has been policy in the UK for many years now to provide inadequate space for cars to be parked with the idea that this will somehow result in fewer people owning and using cars.

Cars cars cars, in the way because people have not been provided with enough space to park.

The result has been a mess in new developments, such as that shown here: "The Quills" in Histon, near Cambridge where we used to live. This seemed also to be pretty much the pattern for other new developments in the area.

And yet more cars even on corners. Residents are given no reason to cycle, but also nowhere to put their car

I took these three photos a couple of years ago when we lived in Cambridge. This housing development was not yet finished, and not all houses were occupied, yet the pavements (sidewalks) were already covered in cars. The route out of this estate by bicycle is the same as the car route, and rather drag-strip like.

I was astonished then that people would buy a house in such an area and I'm still astonished. These places are made ugly by the presence of cars and everyone who lives here and owns a car has stress added to their lives because of the difficulty of parking the car.

Dutch residential parking

Dutch street scene: Design to encourage cycling. Car parking is given separate space. In addition to these spaces, these homes also have garages and extra parking at the rear.

By way of contrast, here are three photos of how new Dutch housing areas look, taking as an example the nearest new housing estate to our home in Assen. This isn't an exceptionally cycle friendly design, but rather what is now quite standard in the Netherlands. It's not a new thing, but more or less what has been normal for over twenty years.

By bike you have more routes and more direct routes than by car with routes for cars and for bikes unravelled from one another. As a result of this and the presence of many cycle-paths, cycling is an attractive alternative to driving.

Note the wide cycle paths. Also that there is adequate car parking for the cars owned by the population. Drivers are not left "fighting" over an inadequate number of car spaces.

No-one parks their car on the pavement or on the cycle path. There's no need to do so. As a result, neighbourhood conflict due to parking is very uncommon and of course cycling or walking through this area is easy.

No need to obscure the cycle-path when there is ample room to park elsewhere. Concrete setts built into the grass provide hard standing for additional visitors' cars. The house also has parking at the rear for residents' vehicles. The cycle-path is over 3 metres wide. In addition there is a separate 2 metre wide pavement (sidewalk)

It's pleasant to cycle through residential areas in the Netherlands because they are not dominated by cars.

The design encourages cycling by positive steps, not by trying to make owning a car unpleasant.

That's the difference in attitude:

• Focus on making cycling pleasant, safe and direct as has been done in the Netherlands and it has a chance of becoming popular.
• Focus instead on making conditions bad for driving and you'll simply end up with grumpy drivers.

Car ownership in the UK used to be lower than that of the Netherlands. Now it's the other way around.

Carrot or stick ?

More about Kloosterveen
Read more posts about this new Dutch suburb. Not only does it cater for peoples' private cars, but it is also a place where 2/3rds of primary school children cycle to school as well as virtually all older children. The shopping centre prioritizes cyclists and pedestrians and there is excellent access by public transport.

If people are provided with pleasant enough conditions for cycling then cycling becomes a positive choice for a large percentage of the population. No anti-car policies are required