Multi-storey car parks in Sharjah to ease snarls
sharjah — To all the Sharjah residents who have been eagerly awaiting more parking lots in the emirate, we have good news.
A number of multi-storey car parks will be coming up in three key areas of Sharjah by next year.
With an aim to ease traffic congestion in the city, the car parks in Al Majaz 1, Al Majaz 2 and Al Qasimiya areas are part of 13 multi-storey car parks currently being built across the emirate.
Thabet Al Tarifi, director-general of the Sharjah Municipality, said the parking lots were being established to facilitate smooth flow of vehicles in the surrounding areas while preventing snarlups on the streets.
The municipality has almost completed 800 parking lots in the multi-storey building in Al Majaz 1, 1,750 in Al Majaz 2 and 1,230 in Al Qasimiya.
sharjah — Multi-storey car parks coming up in three key areas in Sharjah are expected to ease traffic congestion by next year.
The car parks in Al Majaz 1, Al Majaz 2 and Al Qasimiya areas are part of 13 multi-storey car parks, which are currently being built across the emirate.
Thabet Al Tarifi, director-general of the Sharjah Municipality, said the parking lots were being established to facilitate smooth flow of vehicles in the surrounding areas while preventing snarl-ups on the streets. He added that each of the three buildings consists of a ground floor and seven upper floors, and includes all required services such as security and safety systems. The needs of people of determination are also being taken into consideration in the parking spaces, he noted.
Al Tarifi said the municipality has almost completed 800 car parking lots in the multi-storey building in Al Majaz, 1,750 in Al Majaz 2 and 1,230 in Al Qasimiya. Around 70 per cent of the work is over. A top official from the Sharjah Public Works Department said that the municipality has built the 800 parking lots in Al Majaz 1 at a cost of Dh21 million. Residents will soon have easy access to purchase parking tickets from new parking machines, which will be set up at commercial shops. Drivers will also be able to use the machine to recharge and renew their parking stickers or cards.
What residents say
Residents said that they have been eagerly waiting for the parking lots in the multi-storey buildings since these were announced several years ago. They said they can’t afford to pay the high fees for private parking spaces, which abound in the city which has long lacked adequate parking spaces. Ahmed Al Baloushi, an Al Majaz resident, said he hoped that the multi-storey parking is better than the paid parking on the public roads. “It will be good if the parked cars have more space and there won’t be any room for damage. The hunt for parking spaces is also time-consuming and it often renders people late for appointments or meetings.”
Nitin, an Indian who has been living in Al Qasimiya for 10 years, said that he lives in the Emirates Islamic building on Immigration Road where it’s very difficult to find a paid parking space. “To get a parking space, I need to reach home by 6pm. If I am late, I have to use the private parking which costs Dh5 to Dh7 per hour. The municipality parking is cheaper and free after 12am. I wonder if the new multi-storey parking will be free from 12am to 6am.”
Ahmed Rafeeq, a Pakistani who has been living near Al Mahatta Museum, said that there used to be plenty of free parking spaces earlier. But for the past three years, all these have been turned into paid lots and the free spaces have been given to private parking players who charge more than the municipality rates.
Rafeeq hopes the multi-storey buildings follow a system like paid public parking zones on the road and charge the same price, because municipality parking services are cheaper than private parking. There are no free parking spaces left anywhere in Sharjah, he rued.
afkar@khaleejtimes.com