Parking and traffic congestion is a perennial problem in Kuala Lumpur.
MOTORISTS are frustrated when it comes to parking in the city centre.
Public parking lots are scarce while private carparks charge a premium.
To alleviate the situation, Kuala Lumpur City Hall is proposing for KL to be a pedestrian-friendly city rather than being a chokehold for vehicles.
Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib hopes that city dwellers would walk and take public transport as a means to reduce pollution and traffic congestion.
“DBKL’s new policy is to try and reduce parking spaces in KL to make way for more pedestrian walkways in KL.
“The problem now is, car ownership in KL is very high, so we are trying to encourage them to use the LRT and public transport,” he said, during the launch of the Kuala Lumpur International Arts Festival, DiverseCity 2015.
As a measure to ease existing parking woes in the city, the mayor says DBKL is currently reviewing the need for private parking lots at new housing units.
“We are currently brainstorming with professional bodies and the Real Estate And Housing Developers’ Association Malaysia (Redha) to determine whether there is a need for one to one basis parking in apartments.
“Some of the tenants and owners are not staying at the apartment but are overseas, so maybe we can reduce the number of private parking lots and open it up for the public to use,” said the mayor, adding that if the proposal was carried out, it will be managed by a professional operator.
Although the move has yet to be implemented, condominium residents in Kuala Lumpur have mixed feelings about reducing the number of private parking lots in their residences.
Housewife Chen Pei Keng, 43, said the move is a positive one as it would create a less stressful environment for condominium dwellers and visitors.
“Some condominiums allocate up to four parking bays if we purchase a bigger unit, but not everyone has four cars.
“The road outside my condominium is always congested because visitors cannot park inside, they should open the lots for more people to park,” she said.
Marketing executive Ruebni Karunakaran, 28, said reducing the number of private parking lots defeated the purpose of purchasing a condominium.
“When I bought my unit, I was allocated two parking bays and I pay RM500 as a general maintenance fee which includes cleanliness of the carpark.
“If they open up the spaces, I will not have be able to park my car,”
Engineer Ramesh Naidu, 34, found the proposal to be problematic instead of solving the parking issue at hand.
“DBKL should consider reducing the number of high-rise development projects or reduce the density, instead of reducing existing private parking spaces,”
Bestfbkl - DBKL should come up with better ideas like to build proper safe multi level car parks at strategic points where the public can drive to and park From there they can move around the city using public transportation. Pedestrian walk ways is good if they can make sure illegal stalls do not suddenly occupy the nicely paved pathways, in the end the pedestrian will have to walk on the road sides anyway. There are so many better ways to address the issue. Lets not re-invent the wheel lets study what developed countries have done to address the issue.
