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Fifty parking spaces at Hagley Park could go

Finlay Dunseath
Harper avenue car parks
Harper Ave car parks could make way for bus parking to cater for school sports.  Finlay Dunseath

The transport logistics of primary school winter sports tournaments have led to requests for a layover parking zone on Harper Ave to facilitate the chartered bus companies.

Thousands of children are shuttled to and from Hagley Park every Wednesday by a variety of bus companies, so that they can take part in their favourite school winter sports. 

Right now, a drop-off zone at the park side of Deans Ave is the only space available for transporting those children to and from the games. It requires significant communication between bus companies and schools as buses are forced to dispatch from distant parking zones and bus depots. It can cause lengthy delays for both schools and surrounding traffic.

City council transport engineer Michael Thomson presented a report to the Linwood-Central-Heathcote Community Board on April 1, which requests a layover parking zone be put in place a short distance from the drop-off zone.

This would allow buses to park close on Harper Ave, while they wait to be called on for pick-ups.

The layover would be at the expense of 50 free parking spaces.

Many of these parks are used by central city workers, who make the walk into town to capitalise on the free parking said members of the community board.

The layover zone would be restricted to use by buses between 12pm and 3pm during the winter months on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. 

Harper Ave5