No new parking spaces near Wilhelminapark in Utrecht due to the disappearance of a parking strip

Due to the removal of the parking strip along the Wilhelminapark in Utrecht, about thirty spaces will disappear and this will probably increase parking pressure in the neighborhood. However, the municipality says it is not taking any measures to reduce this pressure.

Motorists have been parking their vehicles on a strip that runs between Burgemeester Reigerstraat and Oudwijk and along Wilhelmina Park for more than forty years, but this is not actually the intention. The destination of the strip is ‘green’ and parking in this location is therefore contrary to the zoning plan. A few years ago, the Wilhelmina Park Foundation decided to raise this issue after a long tug-of-war decided the Council of State recently that the parking lane had to disappear and the municipality decided, partly after a parking pressure measurement, not to challenge the verdict.

David Bosch from UtrechtNu! says he is now concerned about the parking capacity in the area. Although the municipality’s measurements show that there are sufficient places, Bosch’s party sees this differently. “We do not agree with this and believe that the actual impact of this decision on parking pressure will be worrying, especially given the high segment of homes in this neighborhood, where residents often own one or more cars.”

To ask

Bosch has submitted written questions about the matter. For example, he wants to know how the council will tackle ‘the expected increase in parking pressure in the vicinity of the Wilhelmina Park’. Based on its own measurements, the council says that there will still be enough space. “The parking pressure in the area will probably increase after the parking strip is removed, but not to such an extent that measures are necessary to reduce the parking pressure.”

Bosch also wants to know whether the council is prepared to investigate how the lost parking capacity in other places in the area can be compensated. In response, the council writes that it is currently not necessary to compensate for the parking spaces. “This is also not in line with our policy of removing up to 1 percent of the parking spaces in public spaces each year for the purpose of walking, cycling, playing, staying and greenery.”

Finally, interested parties such as local residents can appeal against the decision to remove the parking strip. Only when the decisions are irrevocable will the ban actually be lifted.