Edinburgh pavement parking ban means double yellow lines down both sides of road in some city streets

Some of the streets are so narrow that if a car parks with all its wheels on the carriageway there is no room for other vehicles to pass.

But the city's transport committee is expected to stick to its strict policy of "no exemptions" to the pavement parking ban despite an acknowledgement of "unique circumstances" in some places.

Bangholm Avenue before the ban - cars park wiith two wheels on the pavement so other vehicles can pass. | Google

Among the streets set to have parking removed are "the Bangholms" off Ferry Road, whose residents petitioned the city council's transport committee last year, asking for an exemption from the ban.

They argued their roads - Bangholm Avenue, Bangholm Road, Bangholm Park and Bangholm Place - are all just 3.6 metres wide, half the width of a normal road, and that people living there had parked with two wheels on the pavement on one side of the street for decades so that traffic could pass.

They claimed the arrangement worked well until the pavement parking ban was introduced, requiring them to park fully on the carriageway, which meant vehicles had to go up on the pavement to get past.

But now a report to the transport and environment committee on March 6 recommends rejecting their plea for an exemption and instead putting double yellow lines down both sides of the roads. Council chiefs say residents should be able to find spaces to park in surrounding streets.

The pavement parking ban - designed to make it easier for pedestrians to get around, epecially those with buggies or in wheelchairs - came into force in January 2024, making Edinburgh the first local authority in Scotland to implement such a policy.

Transport convener Stephen Jenkinson said it was well-liked and was proving successful.

But he said: “One of the main reasons the policy has been successful is that it's clear and it's simple - and it's easy to understand because there are no exemptions.

"I'm keen for the policy to retain its success and therefore I don't feel starting to exempt areas of the city would be beneficial.

"If you grant one exemption you're potentially going down the path of exemption, exemption, exemption and then the policy starts to be undermined.”

He said he had visited the Bangholms to see the situation for himself. “When I was standing on the street, there were cars parked - appropriately - on the left hand side and a delivery van came into the street. The only way it could get down the street was by fully mounting the pavement and driving down the right side of the road. Anybody walking out of their front garden isn't expecting a delivery van to be driving on the pavement.

Cllr Jenkinson said measures had to be taken to ensure road safety was paramount.

"There are unique circumstances around certain parts of the town, but I'm confident we have looked into it thoroughly, debated it and we're confident that continuing with the no exemptions policy is the right thing to do for the city while acknowledging it might not be universally popular.

“Im convinced one of the reasons the policy has been successful is there aren’t any exmptions and everbody knows in Edinburgh you can't park on the pavement.”

If the committee agrees on March 6, a traffic regulation order (TRO) will be advertised to allow for objections and the final decision will be made by the council’s TRO sub-committee.

A TRO has already been advertised for eight roads elsewhere in the city, where double yellow lines on both sides of the road are proposed: Loganlea Drive, Lochend Drive, Claremont Park, Seafield Place / Seafield Road, Pennywell Gardens, Muirhouse Crescent, Craigour Avenue and Salamander Street.