Transport Minister Noel Dempsey has shot down a proposal by city councillors to help ease Dublin's parking problems.

The local politicians had wanted to pilot a scheme whereby residents living on narrow streets with no driveways could park half way on the footpath and the road.

This would mean they could avail of on-street parking while also minimising the disruption caused to through traffic.

But Mr Dempsey has refused to alter road traffic regulations to allow the initiative to be trialed.

Access

In a letter to Dublin City Council, the minister wrote that the proposal has been considered by his department.

But he added: "It is not proposed to amend the Road Traffic Regulations to provide for partial parking of vehicles on public footpaths.

"It is suggested that at locations where sufficient width can be left for the safe passage of pedestrians, use of child buggies/prams and wheelchairs that the indenting of the footpath to provide an on-street parking area should be pursued instead," he said.

"I appreciate that persons who do not have off-street parking at their residence would wish to have on-street parking available nearby," he added.

"It is vital, however, that a public road is kept clear for the safe passage of vehicles."

But Labour councillor Dermot Lacey was not impressed with the response.

He said, in a lot of cases, residents have implemented agreements among themselves to allow for on-street parking.

Restriction

"We have been trying to put order on this. We wanted to be allowed, subject to the usual checks and balances like wheelchair access, to paint a white line along the footpath whereby cars could park halfway up the footpath," Mr Lacey said.

He suggested Wilfield Road and Gilford Avenue in Sandymount would have been suitable areas to try out the new parking initiative.

"They would be ideal models for this initiative. There are more and more cars and people aren't bringing them to work as much so they are lying in an area all day. Parking congestion is now increasing," Mr Lacey said.

However, Mr Dempsey said: "The reality is that if the parking of vehicles on both sides of a narrow street causes congestion, obstructs access to vehicles or blocks traffic flow and there are concerns that emergency service vehicles such as ambulances ... there is no option for the road authority but to restrict parking to one side only."

- Cormac Murphy