A Wellington resident who admitted illegally painting yellow lines on his street out of desperation for public safety may finally be able to lay down his paintbrush.
The Wellington City Council has called for public submissions on a proposal to remove 17 car parks so "no parking" lines can be put into 11 sections of Holloway Rd.
Russell Taylor been painting yellow lines for 20 years in a bid to stop cars parking either side of the road.
Taylor has lived in the street in Aro Valley since the 1970s, and has seen his fair share of crashes and near-collisions on the tight and narrow street.
"Concerns have been raised by several residents regarding ongoing traffic issues on Holloway Rd as people are repeatedly parking on corners thereby blocking the view to oncoming traffic," the proposal said.
Taylor earlier said cars should be able to park on the street, but not on the blind corners.
"They should make it so that the fire engines and the ambulances and the rubbish truck etc etc can get through."
Twenty years ago he painted his first yellow lines. He refreshed them a decade later, but said he had been campaigning on the issue for nearly 50 years.
"I do it quite openly," Taylor said. "It's not something I've hidden, or feel that I need to. I don't think it's a crime. Well, I'm not sure, nobody's told me it's a crime.
"The first time, I was cleaning out my basement and found some yellow paint. That was when I first did it."
Council spokesman Richard MacLean earlier said the council was aware of problems and complaints about parking in the area, and that a fire engine had trouble getting to a house fire because of parked vehicles.
Councillors and other council officers visited the street and talked to residents to identify areas that should be changed to "no stopping" zones.
As well as painting the broken yellow lines, the proposal suggests putting up signs saying "no exit" and "road not suitable for long vehicles".
Taylor told Fairfax he was delighted at the action.