Six-fold increase in Makkah parking space

Saudi Gazette report MAKKAH – The parking space available in Makkah has increased six times since the municipality started implementing an integrated system for parking in the city earlier this month, Al-Madinah newspaper reported. The Makkah Municipality has launched an automated paid parking system in the central Haram area of Makkah as well as several other districts of the holy city in the first week of October. Hisham Bin Abdul Rahman Shelley, general manager for gardens and environmental architecture at the municipality, said the municipality had offered the operation and maintenance of parking lots in the city in a public bidding. The project was later awarded to a national company that specialized in the management of densely populated urban districts. He said the company has planned and prepared the development of infrastructure in a number of locations in line with international standards. The project included adding sidewalks to facilitate the movement of pedestrians and provide pathways for people with special needs. The project also involved creating signs for each target area and organizing parking in order to increase the capacity of available parking space by up to six times. The plan, implemented according to a mechanism developed by the Makkah Municipality, also underlined the need to take stringent action against motorists who violate parking regulations. Raed Muminah, supervisor of the project, said the first phase of the project was implemented on an experimental basis at a number of spots and main roads. The municipality will start charging for parking in these spots from Nov. 30, he added. In addition to the central area, paid parking facilities are available in Misfalah, Aziziyah and along Ibrahim Khalil Street. The municipality has readied a program to enlighten residents and visitors of the holy city about the new parking system and the functioning of automated payment machines. It has printed about 20,000 brochures with detailed information on how to use the payment machines for distribution among the public, Muminah said.