Dose of parallel parking on Brigade Road

Dose of parallel parking on Brigade Road
Deccan Herald

Deputy Commissioner Traffic (East) M A Saleem told Deccan Herald that unhindered traffic flow should be given priority than vehicle parking on busy roads.

To ensure free flow of traffic, the City Traffic Police introduced parallel parking on the busy Brigade Road on an experimental basis from Saturday, as it was done on MG Road.

Though two-wheeler owners had some trouble parking their vehicles initially, there was smooth flow of traffic, despite the weekend rush. But the new system is said to have brought down the number of cars that could be parked on the road from 85 to 39.

Deputy Commissioner Traffic (East) M A Saleem told Deccan Herald that unhindered traffic flow should be given priority than vehicle parking on busy roads. “Parallel parking has helped in decongesting Brigade Road. People will surely get used to it in a day or two,” he added.

Withdrawal urged

Meanwhile, members of the Brigade Shoppers and Establishments Association have, however, urged the City Police Commissioner S Mariswamy to withdraw parallel parking as it may create parking problem on the road. “He (Commissioner) has assured to review the new system if it leads to any problem,” the Association Secretary Suhail Yusuff said.

The Association has been running the pay and park system on Brigade Road using automated parking meters. It has entered into an agreement with the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike to run the system for five years and is sharing the revenue collected with the BMP on a 50:50 basis.

Mr Yusuff said that revenue collection through parking will come down substantially under the new system. “We have invested over Rs 40 lakh for the parking meters. How can we recover the money if the number of cars to be parked is reduced?” he asked.