CHENNAI: Ever since the Tambaram Bus Terminus shifted to Sanatorium, the suburb’s residents have been dreaming of the multi-level parking lot that was proposed to be set up on the municipality ground where the terminus was earlier located. However, the plan is still in its initial stages as no consultancy firm is ready to take up the planning work for the project and the tender still remains unawarded, according to officials.
This space in Tambaram is a hub for suburban connectivity and commercial purpose. It is located adjacent to the local and intra-State bus junction, Tambaram Railway terminus and the bustling Tambaram market. With burgeoning traffic and no infrastructure to ease parking hassles, the multi-level parking lot, mooted two years ago, had many residents and users’ hopes pinned on it. However, while the tender awarding process remains stagnant, a group of councillors oppose the plan saying that that the space is still crucial for the buses to stop by.
“The space spanning almost an acre is already being used as a parking lot but the capacity is meagre, for about 50 cars at a time. We are already earning `1,500 from the existing lot,” says Tambaram Municipal Commissioner K Ravichandran.
“The initial plan is to construct a four-tier basement parking lot, which would approximately have a capacity of 400 cars at a time and would increase the revenue by more than 10 times. There is a dearth of parking space here and with many parking their cars under the flyover, traffic snarls have been unavoidable. But this parking lot will answer a lot of traffic problems in the busy junction,” adds Ravichandran.
According to officials, the primary cost of constructing the parking lot will be `9 lakh per parking slot which comes up to more than `35 crore without even factoring miscellaneous costs.
Funding for such a big project is bound to take some time. “With the kind of traffic on GST Road in Tambaram, even 400 would fall short of being adequate. But if the completion of the project is not expedited, then parking would eat up more space on the road than even moving vehicles,” says J Merin, a resident of Mudichur.
Another resident, S Shyam of Irumbuliyur, says “I go to the bus stop everyday in my car, but since there is no parking space near the bus stop I have to park on the other side of Tambaram Railway Junction and walk all the way to the stop. A multi-level parking lot here would solve a lot of problems.”
Although there has been a huge demand for parking spaces from residents, the project is bound to take a year or even more to kick off, according to officials.
However, since the Municipality owns the ground, once the initial hassles are taken care of, construction work can be completed within a limited time, promise officials.