In a bid to revive the project to develop a pedestrian plaza in T. Nagar, the Chennai Corporation is planning to identify more locations for the development of multi-level parking lots in the city’s central business district.
According to estimates, at least 4,000 cars and 10,000 motorcycles will require space for parking near the pedestrian plaza once the facility is thrown open to the public.
However, the proposed multi-level parking lots on Sivagnanam Street and Thanikachalam Road could accommodate only 600 cars. At a meeting on Friday, the civic body asked the consultant to carry out yet another study to develop more parking lots in T. Nagar, sources said.
The pedestrian plaza will be developed along a 1,400-metre stretch of Thyagaraya Road from Bashyam Road near Panagal Park to Anna Salai. The design of the plaza will include space for seating of visitors. The facility is expected to emerge as an intersection of art and commerce, where buildings would be required to have animated electric, neon or illuminated signs and news scrolls.
As per an analysis of parking accumulation in the area, 57 percent of the vehicles parked along Thyagaraya Road are motorcycles. Cars constitute 29 percent. But the sub-arterial roads of Thyagaraya Road have a higher percentage of motorcycles (60.4 percent). Just 21.73 percent of the vehicles parked along sub-arterial roads such as Thanikachalam Road and Dr. Nair Road are cars, officials said.
The current parking demand along the stretch between Panagal park and Dr. Nair Road is for 836 cars and 1,882 motorcycles. The demand for parking space is expected to rise to 4,295 motorcycles and 1,540 cars in the stretch after the construction of the pedestrian plaza. Similarly, the requirement of parking space along the stretch from Dr. Nair Road to Anna Salai is estimated at 5,572 motorcycles and 2,233 cars.
A trial run of the proposed changes to traffic flow in the pedestrian plaza is expected to be carried out soon. Officials indicated that the operations of two-fuel outlets would be affected by the development of the pedestrian plaza.
The project is also expected to provide a boost to non-motorised transport in the commercial area.
