In a city that is bursting apart at the seams when it comes to traffic, parking has become a major concern. The Chennai Corporation and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) have, at various points of time, proposed multi-level parking facilities, without much by way of results. After several attempts, the civic body is still in the process of settling the bid for construction of such a facility at Broadway.
In the budget announcement this year, it has proposed multi-level parking lots at Anna Nagar, Adyar and Purasawalkam.
Mayor M. Subramanian said that due to the rapid increase in the number of cars following the IT boom, there was a need for more parking facilities.
R. Srividya, a resident of Thirumangalam, said, “I don't go to T. Nagar for shopping unless it is absolutely necessary as parking is difficult. If proper parking is available with a shuttle service to the shopping area, I won't mind using it,” she said. “The authorities, however, need to ensure that these services work properly.”Municipal officials said that metered parking would help regulate vehicles waiting to pick up passengers. “We have proposed metered facilities in more locations.”
Pointing to other cities that have mitigated the parking problem, Mohan Thenrajan, a civil engineer said, “In Delhi, where the Metro works very well, residents park their vehicles at stations and commute to work.
“Government offices have also been shifted to the suburbs as they attract large numbers of people. In Chennai work is underway on a Metro rail, but it has to be seen how well it will be connected to other modes of transport.”
