Haphazard parking on Broadway will soon be a thing of the past.
Come December 1, and parking along the busy stretch will be restricted to customers’ vehicles.
“Separate parking areas for two-wheelers and four-wheelers will be demarcated. Four traffic wardens have been hired to enforce the new regulations,” said Mohammed Sageer, general secretary, Kerala Merchants Chamber of Commerce, which has been in the forefront of Broadway beautification.
Each traffic warden will be paid between Rs.8,000 and Rs.9,000, which will be borne by shop owners, with each of them contributing Rs.500 a month.
Four wardens have been hired to ensure that at least two of them will be present at any given time even if the other two take a break or do not turn up.
Shop owners on Broadway have been complaining that the space in front of shops is always occupied by vehicles of staffers of a nearby shopping complex. Traders hope to tide over the problem with the help of traffic wardens.
Several methods were tried out on Broadway in the past to find a lasting solution to the parking issue. Though it was declared a no-parking stretch, things were back to square one soon. Then the Broadway Shop Owners Association brought in an alternative parking system in April this year, under which parking was to be shifted between either side of Broadway on alternate days. However, it did not materialise. And for years now, parking has been restricted to the left side of the stretch. The chamber also has plans to install surveillance cameras at all junctions along Broadway. An agency has been asked to submit the project estimate, and work is expected to begin soon.
Streetlights designed in traditional manner are likely to be charged shortly even as work is progressing on two arches at the entry points to Broadway.
The road winding through the middle of Broadway was tiled and ground-level ducts were constructed for cables and lines some time ago.
“We hope Broadway and the larger Ernakulam market region will get a facelift under the Smart City project,” Mr. Sageer said.
