Streets near the Armadale Hospital being used for overflow parking is becoming a serious safety issue according to Mt Nasura resident Andy O’Neill.
Mr O’Neill said he’d noticed the trend of hospital visitors parking along Haslemere Drive over the past two and a half years.
At 10am last Wednesday he counted nine cars parked on both sides of the street, creating a “narrow single lane for vehicles to drive through”.
“Rubbish and delivery trucks may as well give up, or maybe take a wing mirror or two on the way through,” he said.
“The practice is dangerous as the street is an ‘S’ shape and has blind spots when coming from either end.
“Near misses are plentiful – but one day maybe not so.”
He said the problem is forced onto the perpetually busy Albany Highway when drivers turning off the highway into the street have to brake suddenly because of vehicles parked too close to the corner.
“Vehicles following them on the highway are then forced to brake even heavier and it won’t be long before an accident happens,” he said.
Mr O’Neill said he has spoken with the City of Armadale, and state and federal members since he first raised the issue in September 2021.
The City of Armadale said they investigated the issue in 2021 and “found there was insufficient usage to support restrictions being implemented and that overflow parking at the hospital via Ecko Road was often available”.
But Mr O’Neill said the problem had gotten worse, especially on Wednesday and Thursday mornings.
He said Haslemere Dr is the only exit point for him and his neighbours.
“I’d hate to live in the properties on that street and try to reverse out of the driveway – there’d be no clear line of sight,” he said.
He believes there’s a simple enough solution – a no parking sign during designated times placed on one side of the street.
“It then gives the ranger an option to ticket people,” he said.
“Because where they’re parking is not currently illegal, it’s just dangerous.”
The City of Armadale’s Chief Executive Officer Joanne Abbiss outlined a potential path moving forward.
“The city could conduct a further investigation to determine any change in the parking situation. This would involve patrols from the city rangers and engineering staff over an eight-week period to establish the extent of the issue,” she said.
“The city could consider implementing ‘no parking’ signage if overflow parking from the hospital is causing an issue on a daily basis along Haslemere Drive.
“However other residents in the street would need to be consulted prior to preparing a report for council consideration, as any parking restrictions would limit resident parking along the street.”
Mr O’Neill said he has no plans of letting this rest.
“I have been complaining about this dangerous parking since September 2021 and will continue to do so until something is done to make it safe for everyone,” he said.
The Department of Health was contacted for comment about provisions for hospital parking and potential plans for parking expansion, but Examiner Newspapers did not receive a reply by time of publishing.
