Change to seafront parking bays

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council engineers will this week start making alterations to the parking bays on Western Esplanade in response to concerns raised by members of the public.

The current arrangement of parking bays on the seafront was introduced in line with safety guidelines to avoid the need for motorists to reverse out of spaces into oncoming traffic.

But it has not proved popular with residents or visitors to the town and the Council has agreed to change the parking arrangements to make them more user-friendly.

The bays are to be re-orientated by 60 degrees towards the east, resulting in an almost mirror image of the existing layout. This will allow motorists to drive into the bays and reverse out.

As a result of the realignment there will be 586 spaces including two new disabled bays outside Maxims Casino.

Eleven of the bays are being leased from the Council by Thames Estuary Yacht Club and will be marked ‘TEYC members only’.

Work is expected to start tomorrow (Wednesday 9th March) on removing the current parking markings using a hydro-blasting machine. It is proposed to carry out the work in six sections.

The engineering team will start from the west end of Western Esplanade near Rossi’s. As the markings are being removed a second team following them will mark out the new parking bays.

Traffic flow in the area is not expected to be affected by this work, although there will be a temporary loss of parking spaces while it is being carried out.

It is anticipated that the job of removing the old parking bays and marking out the new ones will be completed within a fortnight.

Just prior to the completion of the bay marking work engineers will be installing a new zebra crossing and a loading/taxi bay outside Maxim’s Casino.

This may lead to some minor disruption but the Council will notify residents in advance of any contraflows or diversions which might be deemed necessary.

Council Leader Nigel Holdcroft said: “The current parking arrangements on Western Esplanade were brought in with safety in mind and were technically correct.

“However, they haven’t proved practical in the event and a large number of people have voiced their concerns over the parking bays to us.

“In response to these concerns we have decided to realign the bays so that people can drive into them and reverse out.

“The work is being carried out now so that it can be completed in time for Easter and doesn’t impact on trade during that busy period.

“Every effort is being made to minimise the disruption to motorists and pedestrians while the work is taking place and we apologise in advance for any inconvenience.”