Abu Dhabi: The conversion of undeveloped plots into temporary parking areas and the erection of temporary parking structures across the capital are expected to soon ease parking woes for residents in Abu Dhabi city, a transport department official said on Tuesday.
In addition, ten parking structures are to be erected across Abu Dhabi city in the long term, the Department of Transport (DOT) official said.
He was speaking at a panel session in the capital on Tuesday, in which transport officials noted that there was a shortage of parking spaces around the central business district (CBD) in Abu Dhabi.
"The DOT is taking short and long-term measures to provide parking spaces," the DOT official said at the session.
The session was part of the two-day International Roads Federation Congress, where transport and infrastructure officials met with regional government department representatives to discuss ways of providing sustainable transport solutions.
According to a DOT survey presented at the session, there was a shortfall of 20,000 parking spaces across 46 studied sectors in the Abu Dhabi CBD during the morning.
Reserved spaces
About 60 per cent of the shortage occurred in the Tourist Club area, with 13,000 spaces being short during morning hours.
To improve the parking situation, the DOT official added that the department was enforcing that parking spaces be reserved for residents of buildings between 9pm and 8am. "In the short-term, that is in the next six months, there will be temporary parking spaces created in Khalidiya and Tourist Club Area, among others. There will also be other multi-storey car parks," the DOT official said.
He also added that the DOT was working with other departments to stop illegal land use conversion, in which a residential space was converted into an office space and therefore required three times more parking spaces.
Another DOT official who also spoke at the session explained the current parking shortages came about as a result of the recent growth of the capital city.
"Towers were built without providing for basement parking, and there are not enough public transport alternatives, which induced more people to rely on private vehicles," she said.
