It has been almost six months since the enforcement of parallel parking along some of the city’s most congested streets and so far 185 persons have been charged with breaching the new traffic rule, according to Traffic Chief Dion Moore.
Moore, in a recent interview with Stabroek News, said the disregard of the rule and continued diagonal parking by drivers is of concern to the traffic department, particularly in light of a noticeable increase in damage accidents. He explained that damage accidents often occur when drivers who have parked diagonally reverse in an attempt to get into the flow of traffic.
So far, parallel parking has been enforced on Carmichael Street, Robb Street, Regent Street, Avenue of the Republic Avenue, parts of Water Street, and Camp Street, between Quamina and Middle streets.
Moore informed that the traffic department is now looking to enforce parallel parking at Main Street, in the vicinity of Courts Furniture Store, and Church Street, near Guyana Stores.
“We look at the most congested areas… those are the places that we look to enforce it but before we enforce, we ensure that there are proper road markings,” he said.
He said the new arrangement had gotten both negative and positive feedback from members of the public. Motorists have complained that fewer vehicles can park along the roadways where parallel parking has been enforced, although drivers have conceded that there is more space for vehicles to pass and less interruptions in the flow of traffic by vehicles having to reverse.
Parallel parking in the city began on Regent and Robb streets, two of the main streets in the central business district.
The new parking system was blasted by drivers, who said it left them with less places to park. Though there are two parking lots on Regent Street, many have said that they cannot afford to use it
The police have maintained that such an arrangement is needed to adequately deal with traffic congestion in central Georgetown. The increase in the number of vehicles traversing the city’s streets in recent years has added to the congestion.
