The influx of motor vehicles in Zimbabwe and Bulawayo in particular was unexpected by the City Authorities and it created unforeseen congestion that has affected parking.
Over the years there has been a serious shortage of parking bays in the Central Business District. Areas that having given the motoring public a headache are, Fort Street and Leopold Takawira Avenue at the Tredgold Magistrates Courts, Fife Street from 6th Avenue up to 12th Avenue. Joshua MN Nkomo stretching from 3rd Avenue up to 12th Avenue. The inner streets like, Herbert Chitepo, Jason Moyo, George Silundika are ever crowded.
Another no-go-area are the roads bordering the Pic’ n ‘Pay Hyper Market. It is simply impossible to find a parking bay.
While motorists have been having difficulties in finding parking, the City Council has been reaping from the difficulties.
Many vehicles have been clamped by the Traffic Section of the BCC for wrongful parking despite the full knowledge of the city fathers that there is a serious shortage of parking space in the city.
These parking huddles faced by Bulawayo motorists may be a thing of the past as government has allowed a Proposed Partnership between Bulawayo City Council and Tendy Three (Pvt.) Ltd. on the implementation of Bulawayo Vehicle Parking Management System Project.
“The project involves the installation and maintenance of a fully integrated parking management system which will allow users to pay parking fees using their mobile phones and other payment methods. Surveillance equipment will also be installed on all streets in order to aid traffic management in the City. The introduction of the system will increase revenue generation to the Bulawayo City Council, thereby improving service delivery.” said Monica Mutsvangwa in yesterday’s cabinet briefing.
She went on to say,
“Tendy Three (Pvt.) Ltd will invest US$2.2 million into the project, which will have a capacity of 7 200 parking bays. Some equipment worth US$700 000 has already been acquired for the project. The project will have an annual turnover of between US$1.1 million and US$1.8 million, and will create employment opportunities for 450 people. The partnership will run for a period of 6 years.”
As the project runs there will be real-time vehicle detection and recording,
ability to guide motorists to available parking bays, there also will be effective and efficient workforce management bringing convenience to the motoring public and
decongestion of urban roads.
Zim GBC News