This photo on Facebook caused a minor stir. We've only changed the number plate. The person who uploaded it felt that the Tesla over the line was in the wrong. She didn't really hold back. Was the driver lazy? Uncaring? Oblivious? Concerned about door dings?
Or, was the driver forced to park over the line because the previous car to the left was also over the line? No one knows.
Tesco parking bays are standard width: 2.4m. The maximum width of the widest Tesla model is 1.99m
But the interesting thing was the comments on the width of the parking bays. Some suggested that Tesco cram them in. In fact, Tesco's bay width is the same as in town centre car parks. They use the standard width of 2.4m.
The question asked was this: given cars are getting bigger, is 8ft enough, in Tesco or in town?
Let's say that we should add an extra 10 per cent to bay widths. This would reduce the amount of off-street parking in the town centre from 331 spaces to 298. (We're assuming that disabled spaces at about up to 1½ times the size of ordinary bays remain the same.) If an extra 20 per cent, then the number of spaces reduces to 265.
There are those who already complain that there are too few spaces. We don't subscribe to that view but the issue is that the popular car parks fill up and people don't or won't go elsewhere. Wider spaces mean fewer spaces. The popular Market Street and Dog Lane between them would reduce from 130 to 117 (at 10 per cent) or to 104 (20 per cent).
If we are to replace the lost car parking because of wider bay widths, where would the new capacity go? There’s certainly no space available as handy as Market Street or Dog Lane.
We can expect parking increases in April 2024. If there's a loss of 20 per cent space, would parking increase yet further by 20 per cent?
And then there's the Square. There are 11 official spaces there (but, interestingly, none for disabled motorists). An increase of even 10 per cent in width would have a disproportionate impact, because of the layout. And, how would G Parry cope?
The Tesco car park is not the best in the world and the layout is poor. You can't blame Tesco, though. It's in their interests to maximise the space available. The same economics applies to Tesco as the town centre. Increased bay widths result in fewer spaces. Imagine the complaints on Facebook at busy periods if shoppers were unable to get parked. It might even be suicidal: trade at busy times might move to Aldi. Interestingly, Aldi's bay widths are a little more generous. Aldi can afford to be. Aldi have the land and there's less pressure on parking.
Car parks in Rhuthun/Ruthin town centre have the same bay width, though Market Street in parts is *slightly* more restricted. Dog Lane, on the other hand, is *slightly* more generous. Because of the shape of Troed y Rhiw, some spaces there are *rather* generous.