Parking woes? Solutions are chugging along

Parking woes? Solutions are chugging along
Nina C George
City traffic police say that parking will be banned on MG Road stretch between Brigade Road Junction and Trinity Circle only towards the fag end of the BMRCL project work, and that is at least 18 months away.

Thanks to the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL), MG Road will soon have two captive parking slots — one at the spot where Plaza Theatre stood till recently and the another on the northern side of the theatre. These two slots are being planned and designed in consultation with local architects and Rites India, a Government of India enterprise.
Discussions are on within the BMRCL to finalise the number of cars and two-wheelers these parking slots can accommodate. "The slots will be provided exclusively for Metro Rail users.
We are yet to decide on whether space must be provided for 100 or 40 cars. We don't intend on giving the parking space out to shopowners," a source in the BMRCL told Metrolife.
The parking slots and the six stations — MG Road, Trinity Circle, Ulsoor, CMH Road, Old Madras Road and Byapanahalli — will be designed in a unique way without duplicating any of the existing structures, says the source and adds that they don't intend on borrowing any design ideas from overseas.
"We will use local talent and ideas to give the parking slot and stations a different look," the source adds. The 135-metre long and 35-metre wide parking lot will be designed to be light on road. Care will be taken not to distort the charm of MG Road and not block the view from any side.
"The parking slots will be light in design and will be a transparent glass structure. Ample space will be provided within the slot for people to move around, something on lines of a hotel lounge. The parking fee is yet to be decided."
City traffic police say that parking will be banned on MG Road stretch between Brigade Road Junction and Trinity Circle only towards the fag end of the BMRCL project work, and that is at least 18 months away. But parking on the Brigade Road junction-Anil Kumble circle stretch will remain untouched.

Alternative parking space
The police are in the process of finalising alternative parking spaces. As part of the arrangement, the BBMP has identified land between Ulsoor Road and Thiruvalluvar statue, beside the Ulsoor lake, as a possible parking slot. "People going to MG Road can park their vehicle in the Ulsoor Road parking slot and take an auto or walk up. Plans are also on to make Ulsoor Road a one-way. Buses will then be diverted on to Residency Road," says a top police officer.
But parking will be a problem and another officer anticipates a second parking lane will be marked out on MG Road.
"However, I don't see any difference in the flow of traffic despite the Metro Rail coming up unless people choose to use the Metro Rail. I don't know how receptive people are to shift to another pattern of transport," says the officer.
Soon the traffic police will shift focus to disciplining traffic in the City. “I only see traffic becoming more disorganised and chaotic unless it is disciplined rather than mechanically clearing traffic blocks and facilitating easy movement,” says he.