Website Impact! With New Parking Action Plan Unscientific Parking Spaces on LHH Road Removed

By
Alfie Dsouza, Team Mangalorean.
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Website Impact! With New Parking Action Plan Unscientific Parking Spaces on Light House Hill (LHH) Road Removed

Mangaluru: Talk about magic that issues highlighted in Mangalorean.com are getting rectified in no time- so, once again Mangalorean.com has proved one more positive result after highlighting another civic issue -Talk about the power of media, especially Electronic media where we highlight the civic issues and within few hours or a couple of days the concerned authorities who can’t bear the criticism about their negligence, quickly get into action and rectify the civic issues. In the past Mangalorean.com has highlighted various civic issues through our website, and there has been a tremendous effect with most of the problems being fixed in no time, from rectifying dilapidated roads, open drainage, non-friendly footpaths, dog menace, neglected garbage, illegal hoardings, potholes, dying trees etc.

Following the report (Ref: Unscientific Parking Spaces on LHH Road Not a SMART IDEA by SMART CITY Officials!), the Mangaluru Smart City Ltd (MSCL) officials have now removed the unscientific parking spaces near the Ladies Club/Opposite Tagore Park on Light House Hill Road, Mangaluru, has come up with a new Parking Action Plan.

BEFORE WEBSITE IMPACT….

When the construction work of the stretch of the Light House Hill Road till Dr Ambedkar Circle (Jyothi Circle) was getting widened, even though the project was going at a slow pace it was good news for the citizens of Mangaluru and tourists to Mangaluru. Unfortunately, what the bad news was that providing unscientific parking spaces for four-wheelers of this road that is getting widened-which was nothing but a DUMB idea. Every educated person and person with common sense, whom Team Mangalorean interacted, all said that the parking slots which got done were nothing but senseless and absolutely a dumb idea, by those officials who are behind the plan.

These parking spaces are near to Ladies Club and Opposite Tagore Park, on the stretch of LHH Road, where four-wheelers when parked in these spaces with their bumper extending onto the road, imagine what would be the situation of traffic moving on this road during rush hours. Also, how would the parked vehicles move out when there is heavy traffic? Did any of the MSCL officials think of all these cons while planning these unscientific parking spaces? Within a couple of days, after our report was published, Yours Truly of Team Mangalorean got a call from the General Manager (Technical) at MSCL stating that the parking spaces will be removed, and the new Parking Action Plan will be notified to us soon.

AFTER WEBSITE IMPACT….

Once again, on 7 January 2022, Er Arun Prabha-the General Manager at MSCL said that with the new Parking Action Plan, instead of allowing four-wheelers to park on the right side of the road adjacent to the wall of the Ladies Club, the parking space will be provided for two-wheelers, with marked lines. And now where two-wheelers are parked adjacent to Tagore Park, that space will be provided for four-wheelers parking, with marked lines (only). This is the new action plan regarding the parking issue, and hope that will serve the purpose with no objections or complaints from motorists and citizens.

Anyways, I am sure many of us have faced similar delays on busy streets purely because of vehicles parked at odd spots in already narrow lanes. It won’t be surprising to see such sights in areas with shopping malls, markets and commercial centres. Roadside parking is a necessity in any city’s traffic ecosystem. Unfortunately, it is so underrated when compared to bigger problems that it gets sidelined. Given the high percentage of four-wheelers among the total vehicular population in Mangaluru, apart from two-wheelers, it becomes paramount to be able to manage the availability and proper utilization of parking spaces on the main arterial roads of the city.

Vehicles parked along the road can create a similar bottleneck and sometimes accentuate a pre-existing bottleneck because of the conflict and blockages they create for flowing traffic. Curbside parking can be streamlined by bringing in simple changes in the way we look at parking overall. Earmarking specific sections of a busy road to be open for parking will bring in a much-needed structure to the parking availability, but surely not on this LHH road.. Making a single side of the road open for parking and alternating the two sides every few meters can split the congestion evenly. This is not a popular solution for a congested City like Mangaluru. However, this would not yield benefits in small stretches in certain streets in Mangaluru. On such roads having a clear demarcation on one side open for parking is a welcome respite.

While we try to address the parking problems of the city, it is important to note that at the crux of this problem is the paradox of balancing the means and the ends of achieving systematic, well-enforced roadside parking. The ultimate objective is not to smoothen the parking experience to encourage people to bring out their cars and vehicles more often but to achieve convenience for those opting to bring their vehicles and to remove the bottlenecks being caused due to haphazard parking. Solutions for the parking issues should be designed keeping the end results in mind. Making the traffic and parking experience smoother should be the agenda.

Ultimately a well-managed parking space scenario in the city will not just provide a comfortable option for drivers to make swift parking and save time, it will also lead to a clear enlistment of available parking spots and more informed rider decisions to choose the appropriate mode of transport. Given the call for removing parking spaces altogether from some of the busy roads in the city, a better parking environment will enforce discipline and informed commuting decisions on a daily basis. Let’s hope parking space management is given its due importance in the long battle for improved and safe mobility in Mangaluru!

MSCL CLARIFIES ON DIGGING/CUTTING OF BRAND NEW LIGHT HOUSE HILL ROAD:

In response to the report published in Mangalorean.com (Ref: OMG! Total Nonsense Once Again Digging/Cutting of Brand New Light House Hill Road), Er Arun Prabha -the General Manager (Technical) at Mangaluru Smart City Ltd has clarified stating…

“MSCL has dismantled about 50m of this stretch at the end of the road for one lane width to build a retaining wall. This has become necessary due to the (free) Right U-turn. We also had to realign the UGD line here. This is old Concrete and not a newly laid one.”

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