On-street parking of cars in residential areas hinders movement of vehicles

Parking of vehicles, especially four-wheelers, on the narrow lanes of residential areas, has been hindering the movement of pedestrians and causing inconvenience to road users

Parking of vehicles, especially four-wheelers, on the narrow lanes of residential areas, has been hindering the movement of pedestrians and causing inconvenience to road users.

On-street parking in the narrow lanes has become endemic to several neighbourhoods in the city such as Khajapettai, K.K. Nagar, Vayalur Road, Thillai Nagar, Karumandapam, Crawford, Varaganeri and Srirangam.

The space on the narrow streets, which are mostly just 20 to 30 ft wide, shrinks because of parking of vehicles. Traffic snarls are common in most of the residential areas.

“Parking on streets makes commuting a nightmare, particularly during the peak hours when school vans and autorickshaws come to pick children. Sometimes, even riding two-wheelers on these stretches becomes difficult with vehicles being parked on both sides of the street,” said G. Venugopal, a city resident.

Residents say that parking in front of their residences has become a norm for want of adequate parking space on their premises. A majority of the apartments have designated parking spaces, but a few have hardly any space to accommodate a handful of vehicles.

Parking vehicles on the street is a new menace which haunts the road users and morning walkers. Apart from restricting the space for pedestrians, it reduces the free flow of traffic. Vehicles abandoned on the streets are another problem.

“There is a surge in the number of vehicles and almost every family has a four-wheeler, whether they have a parking facility in the house or not. Some have more than one car and they park the vehicles on the streets,” says P. Ayyarappan, a road safety activist.