Side streets

Just as in Bristol, there isn't enough space for all the important customers, even with echelon parking.

Here is where the Palo Alto council have realised the problem, and corrected by adding free two hour parking in open parking lots. Even there, someone has tried to sneak a bicycle in.

The side streets also offer unrestricted parking, making it easy to get from your SUV to your restaurant.

As with the main road, "University", there is no space in a city with such narrow roads to add any bicycle lanes.

None at all.

Yet what do we see? Somone has snuck in a bicycle and chained it -probably illegally- to a bus stop. They should be reported to the police!

HSS Hire Bristol: Traffic Calming the cyclists

Sainsbury's Local is now open in Gloucester Road, so you can "shop locally" without having to go into local shops. Of course, any one who does this will miss out on the pain-au-chocolat which the Bread Store has raised to an art, but sometimes you're in too much of a hurry to queue for them or talk to the staff.

What the new shop does have, and presumably will have the cyclists and students of Bishopston happy, is a contraflow bike lane just next to the shop, here on Elton Road. You can just see it under the HSS Hire van NA09EZJ.

Presumably the driver was worried about cyclists in a hurry endangering these new shoppers, who would be unused to such things, so he has positioned himself for the safety of these pedestrians. The fact that he is wearing hi-viz shows he recognises how cyclists on a the pavement can endanger pedestrians, and how it is important to be visible to them.

Monty Week: robbies driving school

Again, we see how some driving schools teach proper Montpelier-style driving skills.

Today, FD59EPK of Robbies Driving school - a regular contributor to our site- shows an important technique: how best to block a bike lane with double yellow lines while you shop. The secret: put your hazard lights on.


The flashing lights says "only five or ten minutes" or "important", so they are useful tools to use. Our Monty MOT will check that they work, it's the indicators for pulling out/changing lanes/turning that won't be checked for.

When the Stokes Croft Tesco mini-mart is opened behind where the car is,  knowing how to park here will be an invaluable skill. This bike lane -and the one opposite- will be only shoppers parking available.

How to get ahead in advertising

Is the recession affecting your business?. Well, don't worry!. Come to Bristol where you can enjoy free(ish) parking which can help lower your advertising costs. For a limited period only, Bristol business can relax and feel free to advertise as suggested above. Don't worry about creating a blind spot on a bend. They just make life a bit more interesting for pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists,mounted police (including those patrolling the Railway Path nearby) other drivers and, being the main road into an industrial estate, large HGV drivers too. The double yellow lines are a nice touch-highlighting the car like giant go faster stripes. And you can add a sexy tilt by using the pavement, so that pedestrians can also enjoy the car showroom experience without having to lean over the kerb too far.

Alignment

We don't normally comment on how close vehicles are lined up to the kerb, because normally a bit of angle is what you need to fit into a space too small for your car. But today, opposite the BBC offices, we have to highlight this vehicle.

From the approach, you can see it is perfectly lined up with the car in front, nothing wrong there.

It's only when you get closer that you see that the road bends here and that by aligning themselves so well, the car FM57ZSX sticks about two metres out at the back.

This doesn't endanger anyone, and if it forces passing cars to slow down, is a form of traffic calming. What it does do is make double parking here harder, and for that we must denounced it, as this road, Belgrave Road, is the official BBC and university overflow parking area.

Keeping the bike lanes clean: Environmental Waste Solutions

Who is this, Environmental Waste Solutions, on Cotham Hill, where we've been having a bit of lorry/bicycle problems recently?

Well, CN54EHH is collecting waste, this does keep the bike lanes cleaner

And while they are parked on the double yellows/bike lane on a weekday morning at school run time, forcing cycling traffic to swerve out onto the blind uphill lane, they are at least parked outside a hospital. Provided there is an A&E section in the homeopathic hospital, all will be well.

Not on the zig-zags!

The whole zig-zag parking area is trouble in our city. In theory: anyone parking there is wilfully endangering pedestrian lives. In practise, as even the nearby double yellow lined areas are full of short-stay shoppers, zebra crossings are the only place to stop. How to do this without endangering pedestrians.

This photo, from Southville Parking, shows an experimental delivery zone in Victoria Street.

The zig-zag area has been moved leftwards, with some bicycles painted down to force bicycles out the way of through traffic. This newly opened up area does not have double yellow lines, so delivery vehicles -here BX06MDU from the Post Office- have a convenient place to stop without endangering pedestrians by parking over zig-zags.

Brook Hill pavement parking

Last week a sign popped up, telling people not to park on the pavement on Brook Hill. Does it work?

Yes, for about four metres southbound, there are no cars on the pavement

This means that there is more than enough room for vehicles to get past.

Opposite the sign, there is a car on the pavement

But even if the sign actually applied to this side of the road, given that the pavement actually runs out just past the rear wheel of the car, well, it's not actually any use as a pavement, is it?

Trailer Park

When engaging in lazy and illegal parking, use a trailer for added effect. Leave it sticking out into the road and have hours of fun watching cyclists dodging cars who can't see around your neatly crafted blind spot. Makes city life so much more exciting!.