Scientific planning for parking in Mysore inevitable

Taking cognisance of burgeoning parking woes, the Mysore City Corporation (MCC) on Thursday resolved to frame a policy.

However, it would not be offered for free, with more pay and park facilities to come up under the intended system. Most importantly, the said policy stresses on using parking lot at malls for other vehicles too on week days among several other do’s and don’ts.

 

Joint director of town planning Chowdegowda told the council that it has become inevitable to address the parking grievances in a scientific way. The annual growth in the number of vehicles is recorded at 8.26 pc, with 5.15 lakh vehicles of various types in the present scenario. Of them majority 80 pc of the vehicles are two-wheelers. The irony here is the growth in the number of vehicles per annum is high compared to that of population.

 

According to the records, the population growth rate is put at 2.88 pc. While Mysore Urban Development Authority (MUDA) will also be partner being the competent authority to design the rules, the MCC will have the right over identifying and maintenance of the facility, besides deciding on the fee structure.

 

The system includes various stages as follows-

 

Pay and park- It is highly impossible to implement on street and off street parking without ‘pay and park’. The rate is fixed according to the timings. Most importantly, it would also be beneficial in another way, encouraging the public to use public transportation. However, the rate would differ between on street and off street system.

 

Roadside- There is no rule in particular to park the vehicles on the roadside. When the property rates are zooming, utilising public place for parking would amount to loss. It is recommended to identify places where parking could be prohibited. Also the city could be classified into different zones- heritage core, a, b and c. In heritage core, only pedestrians and non-motorable vehicles will be permitted. In ‘A’, parking facility can be created after ensuring adequate space for vehicles and pedestrians, on the roads with free flow of traffic. However, the fee and rules should be very strict. In ‘C’ where the less used roads will be included, there would be slight relaxation in the rules. Where as in ‘B’ the rules should be in between that of ‘A’ and ‘B’.

 

Creating adequate facilities for off-street parking- There is a necessity for places to create facilities for parking off the roads. In this case, the multi-level parking is recommended. As many as six places has been identified for the purpose. Framing of the parking policy benefiting the land owners- be it government or private. The owners should be ready to part with the land either in the form of contract or any other way. If the owner intends to carry construction activities on the same space, the rules should allow him or her to revoke the agreement.

 

Using available space- The space in front of hotels should be allowed to be used by the offices in the morning hours. Usually, the hotels will be replete with customers in the evening hours and the parking lot will be full. During the day hours, it will be partly full. The parking space of the government offices could be allowed to be used by shoppers in the evening. Barring weekends- the parking lot of malls here could be used by nearby government offices.

 

Private bus stops- The private buses should be given dedicated place for stoppages and should be restricted from stopping according to their whims and fancies to allow passengers to board and alight. Shelters can be constructed under public private partnership.

 

Basic infrastructural facilities- Ten per cent of the space in every parking lot should be reserved for bicycles, besides dedicated space for physically challenged persons vehicles. Bicycle tracks should be constructed near the parks and grounds to encourage using of bicycles. Only right side of the road should be allowed for parking on the roads where one-way is in force.

 

Truck terminals- To facilitate construction of truck terminals to check the haphazard parking of heavy vehicles in the city. A truck terminal is being constructed on Mysore- Nanjangud road and another is recommended for KRS road.

 

Parking friendly-Most of the heritage buildings in the city are owned by private parties. It is inevitable to make some modifications to make it parking friendly.