A solution is in sight to parking woes that have been troubling customers and traders alike in Broadway, one of the oldest and busiest trade centres in the city.
Haphazard parking of two-wheelers in multiple rows, especially on the left side of Broadway, has been a bane for long, taking a heavy toll on business in the area.
“Restricted parking, strictly for shoppers, will be enforced in Broadway shortly. The existing restriction on the parking of four-wheelers and the one-way traffic regulation will prevail. Though there was a proposal to declare Broadway a no-parking zone, it had drawn opposition from a section of traders who feared that it would impact their business,” K.S. Baby Vinod, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Traffic West, told The Hindu .
Parking areas will be demarcated depending on the availability of space. Shop owners will be allowed to reserve their parking space with cones and “Customer parking only” signboards. Mr. Vinod said traders had been asked to make the demarcation and restricted parking would be enforced as soon as it was done.
Traders have been crying foul over the alleged unauthorised parking of two-wheelers by employees of shops in a shopping complex sandwiched between Broadway and Shanmugham Road. The two-wheelers have been occupying the front space of a majority of shops in the 250-metre stretch of Broadway. Shop owners in Broadway had taken up the matter with their counterparts in the shopping complex, but in vain.
Police have suggested a solution to the problem as well. “Once the parking space is demarcated for individual shops, the shop owners should be able to know whether the vehicles being parked in their parking space are those of their customers. If the vehicles do not belong to their customers, then the shop owners may give us a call. We will remove such vehicles and slap a fine of not less than Rs. 500 on the vehicle owners,” said Mr. Vinod.
Joseph D’Silva, a member of the Broadway Shop Owners’ Association (BSOA), formed exclusively to find a solution to parking woes, said he hoped the new system would put an end to their troubles. He said shop owners would meet on Sunday to discuss how to go about the proposal of restricted parking.
The indiscreet parking had considerably reduced space in the already congested business centre.
The BSOA had, in the past, lodged complaints with the City Police Commissioner and the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Traffic, seeking a permanent solution to the problem.
The Ernakulam Merchants’ Union, now rechristened Kerala Merchants’ Union, along with the city corporation had made Broadway a no-parking area a few years back. However, that experiment had gradually fizzled out.
