Resolving Complaints: Parking

Parking – What is the problem?

Parking around construction projects regularly impacts on members of the public, other road users and those who live and work around the construction activity. The Considerate Constructors Scheme regularly receives complaints regarding construction parking and to support Scheme registered activity in tackling this issue we are sharing some useful resources and best practices that you can implement on site.

Managing the impact of Parking

Those that live and work around construction activity may be heavily impacted by construction vehicles parking in spaces allocated for residents and visitors as well as poorly parked vehicles blocking the highway, causing traffic and disruption.

There are a number of common practices constructors should be following to minimise disruption related to parking construction vehicles in the community:

• Employ a Traffic Marshal to monitor the area surrounding the project especially at peak times.
• Provide incentives to employees that use other means of travel such as using public transport.
• Implement a tracker which includes the registration number of contractor vehicles allowing them to quickly contact the owner of a vehicle which may be parked incorrectly.
• Consider renting nearby land for construction vehicles to park.
• Contacting local churches or community areas to ask if spaces or car parks can be used by the contractor in exchange to a donation to the facility.
• Implement a park and ride system in the form of a minibus from local car parks to the site.
• Place a flyer on cars that cause a nuisance and are known to be from site informing them where they should be parking as to not cause further disruption.
• Engage with the community to discuss parking issues and resolutions.
• Create a holding area for vehicles delivering to site to prevent congestion/parking issues at entrance to site and arrange these deliveries outside of peak times.

Best Practice Resources

Business Travel Scorecard – The contractor has developed a ‘Business Travel Scorecard’ as part of their campaign to be a Net Zero Carbon business. By encouraging active travel and reducing unnecessary travel to their construction sites, the aim is to reduce overall carbon emissions, adopt healthy behaviours and minimise disruption.

Free Parking to Ease Disruption – The project team approached the local authority and volunteered to cover the cost of lost revenue in the town’s three council-owned car parks for the duration of a bridge closure, so visitors could park and then walk or cycle across the bridge to visit the town.

Provision of Parking Facilities for Workers at Nearby Facility – Additional safe, nearby parking was required for those working at a testing facility who were unable to walk or cycle to work due to the pandemic. In response to this challenge the project reassigned a portion of the project car parking to give approximately 100 car capacity for staff working at the testing facility.

Resolving Parking Difficulties – To minimise disruption to local residents, the contractor has made and displayed custom ‘No Parking’ signs. Additionally, they have issued detailed instructions of where operatives can park to reduce the impact of site parking as well as promoting car sharing and utilising school staff parking bays whenever possible, such as during school holidays, to minimise any disruption caused.