Turku’s Kauppiaskatu was partially converted into a courtyard street. Parking enforcement makes us wonder why motorists don’t know the traffic rules on the street.
Turku In the spring, Kauppiaskatu was conjured up as a yard street for the section between Eerikinkatu and Linnankatu. The former busy thoroughfare was supposed to turn into a peaceful pedestrian’s paradise, but the people of Turku have been updating the chaos of the garden street throughout the summer on social media.
Motorists who park on the street wherever it hurts are especially annoying. According to the Road Traffic Act, parking on the street is only allowed in a marked parking spot. There are a few of these places on Kauppiaskatu, mainly for maintenance or loading purposes, as well as short-term places for customers of the Börs hotel. There are also a couple of disabled spaces on the street.
HS Turku went to observe the hustle and bustle of Kauppiaskatu on two different days. Both times there seemed to be problems with parking. In addition, pedestrians did not walk in the middle of the road, but as before, on the edges of the street. According to the Road Traffic Act, pedestrians must be given unobstructed passage when driving a vehicle on a courtyard street. Driving speed must be adapted to pedestrian traffic and must not exceed 20 kilometers per hour.
You may park in Pihakatu only in marked places.
Town’s parking control enforcement coordinator Andreas Nikitin says that the unfortunate situation of the street is known to the city.
“Basically, when a courtyard street is built, the assumption is not that it will be a continuous through street. Now it’s like driving on a two-lane road and parking on the side of the street like anywhere else.”
Nikitin thinks that drivers from Turku will behave in the street as before, regardless of the new brands.
“That’s where we go between the seat and the wheel. Is the yard street a foreign concept to motorists? It seems that the situation has not changed at all during the summer.”
Kadunpätkä is monitored daily, and the city strives to make monitoring even more effective. Parking error fees have also been distributed, says Nikitin.
In Lilja Mäntylä’s opinion, Kauppiaskatu does not function as a courtyard street. He is surprised to learn that it is also allowed to walk in the middle of the street. “I’d rather walk because of the cars here on the edge.”
Alisa Jaakkola has not noticed any problems on Kauppiaskatu. “I’ve liked this.” Even Jaakkolaka didn’t know that it was a yard street.
“Is this some courtyard street? As a humble pedestrian, I walk on the side”, Virpi Huhtala wonders like others. Improperly parked cars haven’t bothered him.
HS Turku while visiting kohukatu, one supplier drove his car directly in front of the shop, not caring about the traffic rules of the garden street. A free loading place would have been found about ten meters away. Nikitin says that parking error fees have also been given to suppliers.
“But there are also cases where passenger cars use the loading bays incorrectly, in which case suppliers have to unload in the middle of the street.”
On both visits, cars were parked in violation of traffic rules, as if on the side of the street.
A pedestrian can pass the traffic lights by going around the other side of the pole.
Newly the pedestrian traffic lights at the end of Linnankatu are also confusing on pikatu, which seem to cross the pikatu – that is, a street where pedestrians are allowed everywhere.
Turku traffic planning manager Matti Salonen points out that the courtyard street only starts after the crosswalk. In fact, the sign announcing the beginning of the courtyard street hangs from the same post as the pedestrian traffic lights.
Salonen confirms that you can get around the red light by walking along the courtyard street next to the crosswalk.
According to Salonen, it would become difficult for a motorist traveling along Kauppiaskatu from the riverside to avoid pedestrians immediately after the crossing.
“It’s about safety,” Salonen reasons.
“That’s how it’s designed. It could have been planned differently,” he says.
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