Feb 17 - GSD Highlight Traffic And Parking Concerns
The GSD Opposition says that it continues to receive a significant volume of complaints about the parking situation, in and around the city centre, by both residents, and those who travel in and out of town by car during the working week. The volume of traffic during the school run and other peak times continues to be another source of rising concern.
Commenting on the issue, Shadow spokesman for Traffic, Selwyn Figueras, explained that “since work on the Commonwealth Park began soon after the election in 2011, a huge amount of parking space was lost to the project and the Government have been playing catch-up since”.
He continued: “The problem going forward, of course, is that while the original plan for the Commonwealth Park was to deliver twice the amount of parking as there was in the Commonwealth Parade car park, with two levels of underground parking below the park, what we now have is that significant plot of land dedicated to the park and parking having to be scrounged from wherever it can be found. Basically, the one footprint would hold all the parking promised AND the park but now we need three times the space.
“The loss of the naval grounds to the needs of coach parking as works begin on the site of the former coach park and, should it go ahead, the loss of the area where the new Marriott hotel is expected to be built, will cause further headaches for road users.
“The Government seems to be pinning all its traffic policy to the sustainable traffic and transport plan which we, the Opposition, are keenly looking forward to seeing but, in the interim, our road users continue to endure a daily parking nightmare. The irony of the situation, which will not be lost on those affected, is that while any serious investment in traffic infrastructure has been happily suspended by this Government until the plan is completed (and that, conveniently will no doubt come at some point closer to the next general election), there has been no hesitation in wiping out about 350 parking spaces for the construction of the park. However much the park is costing (we don’t know because the Government won’t say), and however green it may be, it is an investment which has only exacerbated the parking difficulties in Gibraltar in the short to medium term.”
In this context, the Opposition says that it renews its call on Government to replace Gibibikes as a green initiative which, unlike the park, has a direct beneficial impact on traffic levels and the use of cars in Gibraltar.
