Thiruvananthapuram: The lack of off-street parking facilities along the arterial road of the capital city has resulted in haphazard parking along the kerbs and on-street parking of vehicles on many busy stretches leading to traffic congestion.

Four-wheelers moving around to park the vehicles are a regular feature at Palayam, Statue, Pulimoodu, Ayurveda College, Overbridge and Pazhavangadi junctions even during non-peak hours and holidays.

The opening of a shopping mall near Overbridge has compounded the problems of the roads users. The lack of adequate parking lot within the premises has resulted in on-street parking by hundreds who throng the mall. Chaotic scenes are being witnessed on the busy road leading to East Fort after the inauguration of the shopping mall.

Security concerns and space constraints have forced many Government offices and business establishments located along both sides of M. G. Road to restrict the entry of outside vehicles.

A study carried out by the National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (Naptac) has revealed that 2,202 Equivalent Car Space (ECS) off-street parking was available under various land uses on MG Road. It has been found that only 362 ECS of authorised on-street parking space was available for various types of vehicles.

As per the Building rules, the stretch need parking space of 6,977 ECS, including the seasonal 2,078, to meet the parking demand. Against a regular requirement of 4,899 ECS, only 2,564 ECS of parking space is provided.

Along the arterial road stretching from RR Lamp to East Fort, limited parking facility is available only on Sunny Made Road, War Memorial, University College-University Library, AKG Centre-Spencer Junction stretches and in front of the Secretariat.

Traffic congestion

The haphazard parking on the carriageway near Kowdiar Junction, Kanakakunnu palace, Museum Junction, Martyr's Column, in front of Palayam market, Saphalayam Complex, Spencer Junction, Statue Junction and in front of the restaurants near University Library often leads to traffic congestion on these stretches.

The one side of the widened stretch from Martyr's Column to Saphalayam Complex/VJT Hall is now being used for parking by those who arrive to the Palayam market and TRIDA complex for shopping and for worshipping in the mosque and temple. Many a times, only a section of the carriageway is available for vehicular traffic.

Utter confusion

Utter confusion prevails near VJT Hall as vehicles coming from AKG Centre take U-turn to proceed to Statue and those from the Sunny Made Road cross over to the University Library side. The halting of the buses in front of University College makes matters worse for road users. The parking lot behind Saphalayam complex does not have any takers.

Although parking is allowed between two gates of the Secretariat, the stretch is mainly used by two-wheelers as the carriageway is not wide enough. The road to General Hospital also witnesses congestion as two-wheelers are parked near the mouth of the road. The busy road from Pulimoodu to the Government Press is also used as a parking lot by those who come to Pulimood. Often, the one-way stretch witness traffic snarls on account of haphazard parking.

Utter confusion prevails on Overbridge-Pazhavangadi and Aristo-Thampanoor-RMS stretches. The only solace is the pay-and-park facility in Gandhi Park and on the Central Station premises. Pulimood-Overbridge stretch is out of bounds for parking in view of the road widening work under the Capital City Road Development Programme. With the proposals to set up off-street parking still in paper, on-street parking will continue.

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