IVI-way parking plea
Page 5
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PLANS should be drawn up for increased lorry parking at motorway service areas, the industry has told the Government, and it has suggested that the EEC might foot the bill.
In a joint submission to the Department of Transport, the Freight Transport Association, Road Haulage Association, and Motorway Service Area Operators Committee have called for additional parking space to be provided to take account of overcrowding at many of the existing service areas.
They want an immediate start to be made on conducting a survey of overnight parking facilities on motorways to identify which service areas need, and are likely to need, additional facilities.
Plans should be drawn up for the provision of more space in prder of priority, and the Gov?rnment should establish whether part or all of the bill muld be financed using EEC 'undo.
The report points out that a waiter of the service areas aleady are under intolerable )ressure overnight, notably at ;even service areas on the Ml, 44, M5, M6, and M74, and that his has led to damage to fittings it the service areas, and to ,verspill parking in areas which re not intended for lorries.
They have pointed out that some service area operators have introduced punitive charges to discourage lorries from parking at the busiest areas, but accept that this is a far from ideal solution.
"The haulage industry suffers many slings and arrows from enraged residents when lorries travel through town centres, often in search of somewhere to park, and to push them off the motorways, where most people would prefer them to be, would seem to be the height of perversity," they said.
The report says that the Government cannot escape its res ponsibility for providing additional parking space for lorries, as the parking areas form an integral part of the motorway network, and it says that new toilet and ablution facilities should also be built where existing ones are not easily accessible.
The high cost of creating the additional parking space prohibits the service area operators from being able to treat it as a normal commercial venture, it says. Instead, it should be financed as part of the national road programme.
If additional space is not provided, the report predicts that the problem will become more acute as the recession eases.