VIJAYAWADA: In a bid to decongest commercial streets, the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has conducted feasibility and traffic study to set up an automated multi-level car parking facility at Besant Road. A consultancy was entrusted for the realisation of the project, which is estimated to cost Rs 7 crore. Request For Proposal (RFP) for the project will be invited in the next 10 days.
Over the years, lack of parking lots at busy pockets in the city, has been forcing people to park their vehicles on the road.
They are ending up paying hefty fines for parking the vehicles in no parking zones. For instance, multi-storeyed buildings at Besant Road which house many commercial establishments, do not have parking lots.
A few have the facility, but they are not enough. Two years ago, the transport department proposed to develop a multi-level car parking facility at several busy areas in the city.
A study was conducted to know the congestion and parking problems at commercial hubs in the city.
In its report, the transport department stressed the need for a multi-level parking facility to ensure free vehicular and pedestrian movement at One Town, Panja Centre, Besant Road, service roads adjacent to national highways and Patamata.
However, due to various reasons, including the non-availability of suitable lands in the respective areas for the proposed works, the project was shelved, official sources said.
Speaking to TNIE, VMC Chief Engineer D Mariyanna said that the newly proposed parking lot in 9,000 sq ft area at Besant Road would come as a major relief for the residents and vehicle users. It will have space for parking about 100 vehicles, including cars and two-wheelers. These proposals were submitted by the consultancy which developed the parking facility in Greater Visakhapatnam under the Smart City project, he explained.
“We have appointed a consultant before the Covid-19 induced lockdown and conducted a traffic study to estimate the number of vehicles being parked in and around the three-kilometer radius of Besant Road and found that haphazard parking of vehicles is the major reason for congestion near Besant Road. L&T Company also carried out a similar study as they were entrusted with the task of corridor improvement. In their findings, they mentioned that the majority of vehicles, belonging to customers of Mahatma Gandhi Road and Eluru Road, are parked on the arterial roads of Besant Road.
Both the study reports will be verified once again to examine the financial, revenue and viability gap for the project,” Mariyanna said.
A pre-bid meeting will be also conducted shortly with the developers after a fortnight after floating the RFP to clarify their doubts over the guidelines to be formulated by the Corporation for materialising the project, he added.