Sharjah spends Dh200m to ease parking woes

SHARJAH // The municipality has embarked on a campaign to ease the parking shortage in the emirate, saying six car parks will be built over the next year. The biggest multi-storey car park - at nine storeys - was being built at a cost of Dh85.9 million (US$23.4m), Sharjah Municipality said yesterday. The municipality has signed a contract with Al Deheri Group General Contractors to build the car park, with each level capable of holding 1,681 vehicles.

It will be built in Abu Shagara and will have a ground floor that contains shops spread across 5,300 square metres. The car park would be finished in a year, said Dr Mohammed bin Saleh al Deheri, the managing director of Al Deheri Group. However, further measures would be taken to ease the emirate's parking shortage, and Dr Salah Taher al Hajj, the municipality's director general, said Dh200m would be spent every year.

Five more multi-storey car parks would be built at a cost of Dh125m and would be finished by the beginning of 2009, said Abdrahman Ahmed al Mahmoud, the director of the municipality's transport and communication department, who believed the project would help to ease congestion in the emirate. Three of the car parks are being built in Abu Shagara and each will hold up to 1,500 vehicles. One is being built in Al Qassimia with a capacity of 1,300 vehicles, while the other will be in Al Majaz and have a capacity of 880 vehicles.

The areas of Abu Shagara and Al Majaz have the biggest shortage of parking, exacerbated by the presence of car dealerships, which use the available spaces. "Look at all these buildings in Abu Shagara," said Emaddudin, a resident. "None of them has parking, but how many people do they have?" Emaddudin said residents used to park their vehicles on free land behind their building, but the owners had sealed it off.

Residents of Al Majaz said they had resorted to parking their cars so far from their home that they often had to take a taxi. "Look at all these big buildings, none has a parking, yet they have thousands of people," said Salim, a resident, who added that desperate residents were parking illegally. "People often double park, blocking fire hydrants and parking in spaces reserved for persons with special needs," he said.

But Mr Mahmoud said the parking shortage was not just a planning problem, and was exacerbated by residents who shared accommodation, which was leading to a population increase in the area. @Email:ykakande@thenational.ae