Govt to prepare exclusive parking policy for Chennai

According to a Greater Chennai Corporation official, a meeting was conducted at the Secretariat a few days ago to discuss the parking woes in the city and the measures to be taken to resolve the issue.

“At the meeting headed by the Chief Secretary, it was decided to prepare a parking policy exclusively for Chennai. The policy will address the present issues and also factor in future developments,” the official said.

Presently, the civic body is preparing a detailed project report (DPR) to implement integrated off-street parking management project across the city. Two consultants have been appointed for preparing the DPR and the suggestions contained in it would be incorporated while preparing the parking policy.

The official added that the parking policy would lay down rules and regulations for implementation of parking related projects, including the monetisation methods, partnerships and other aspects.

The civic body is already implementing an on-street parking project, under which road margins have been earmarked for parking vehicles on pay-and-use basis. About 370 roads have been selected for the project and the civic body has created more than 12,000 equivalent car space across the city. Owners should pay on an hourly basis to park their vehicles on these roads.

Also, construction of a multi-level parking facility at T Nagar has been completed under the off-street parking project. The civic body is awaiting the testing of the electronic mechanism installed in the facility before opening it for the public. Apart from this, similar facilities would come up at Broadway and on Mahatma Gandhi Road in Nungambakkam. The government had already announced an integrated parking management project at a cost of Rs. 2,000 crore.