Nod for multi-level parking facility

Structure in Nungambakkam to accommodate 192 cars, 160 bikes

February 26, 2015 08:25 am | Updated 08:25 am IST - CHENNAI

The average traffic volume on Uthamar Gandhi Salai is 3,260 passenger car units, making parking in the locality a constant hassle. Photo: R. Ravindran

The average traffic volume on Uthamar Gandhi Salai is 3,260 passenger car units, making parking in the locality a constant hassle. Photo: R. Ravindran

With cars accounting for 48 per cent of vehicular usage on Uthamar Gandhi Salai in Nungambakkam, there has always been a pressing need for a parking management solution for the locality. Residents have now spoken loud and clear: they have given the go-ahead to Chennai Corporation to raise a multi-level parking facility on the road, at the turning into Sterling Road.

At a stakeholder meeting on Wednesday chaired by Mayor Saidai Duraisamy, there was unanimous consent to the civic body’s plan to provide parking for 192 cars and 160 two-wheelers at a built up area of 4,217 sq.m.

The 24-crore project that will come up as a basement-plus-three-floors structure, will be financed by Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Limited and will be completed in one to two years’ time, said Mr. Duraisamy. Additionally, the Corporation office for the Zone would be shifted into the complex as well.

According to Mahindra Consulting Engineers Limited, who prepared the project report, the average traffic volume on that road is somewhere at 3,260 Passenger Car Units (a car or autorickshaw carries one unit, two-wheelers are 0.5 units and buses account for three units) per hour. Many commercial establishments have sprung up in areas that were envisioned as residential locations.

A case in point would be Khadar Nawaz Khan Road, which is bursting at its seams with commercial establishments including boutiques and restaurants. Most of the patrons travel by cars. Residents in the area, therefore, welcome this move.

Sruthi Kumar, a long time resident of Thirumurthy Nagar in Nungambakkam welcomes the move, as most streets in her locality are lined with parked cars.

“The place is a mess and people park outside your gate all the time and this is just going to increase with time. It would help if the authorities can foresee the demand in the future and plan accordingly,” she said.

This is, however, dissonant with the Corporation’s avowed policy to promote Non-Motorised Transport. With its pledge to bring up wider footpaths and cycle tracks to decrease vehicular usage, the civic body looked like it was taking the route adopted by developed cities worldwide. Its decision, however, to erect more parking lots looks like a stop-gap solution.

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