Safety fears have led residents of a narrow Stobswell street to plead with Dundee City council to restore its former layout.
Dundonald Street was narrowed to slow down traffic and create more parking spaces at the end of 2010.
The changes were part of the Dundee Partnership Stobswell Regeneration Project, which saw £52,000 invested in the street, but many residents say the ‘improvements’ caused more problems than they solved.
A petition launched last week by nearby resident Robert Lightband and convenience store owner Imran Din has attracted pages of signatures.
After only a few days, Mr Lightband said he has 14 sheets full of names and there are still a few more coming in from Charlie’s Newsagents.
He said: “Many of us were horrified when it was done. It was a fairly wide street and there was quite a lot of traffic using it, including heavy traffic like lorries and buses.
“Then they built out the pavements, halving the width of the street, planting trees, which was nice, and putting these continental bins in, but in so doing caused a lot of problems.
“Two ordinary-sized cars can pass each other but anything bigger, like two big lorries, simply can’t pass each other, which backs up the traffic for everyone.”
Mr Lightband said the tight road conditions made it difficult for children walking to and from schools at either end of the street, sometimes in the road during freezing weather.
He said the situation has become dangerous for motorists trying to park nose first in the angled parking spaces, then reversing out into the main road.
He said: “There have been a lot of bumps. A lot of people stopped going to Charlie’s to get their paper because they were scared to park there.”
Maryfield councillor Georgina Cruickshank said she was “behind the community 100%” after receiving a copy of the petition and forwarding it.
A spokesman for Dundee City Council said: “Build-outs narrow the road, encouraging drivers to slow down, the position of parking bays was changed to sit at right angles to the pavement to create more parking spaces for local people and double yellow lines were put down.
“The changes were discussed with the community before they were brought in and there was also an opportunity to make comments when the formal traffic order advising of the changes was advertised in October 2010.