March 27, 2009
Parking in
the main thoroughfares
Lourdes Pérez Navarro
lourdes.p@granma.cip.cu
A CubaNews
translation.
Edited by Walter Lippmann.
In mid-January, as a
result of the ever-increasing flow of motor vehicles in the city’s main
streets and avenues, Havana’s Provincial Transit Authority took a number
of measures to improve traffic circulation and safety in our roads,
including a ban on parking in thoroughfares as busy with vehicles,
pedestrians and public buses as the streets 23, Malecón, Avenida del
Puerto, 12, Zapata, Monte, Galiano, Calzada del Cerro, Boyeros, Calzada
de 10 de Octubre and Avenues 51st, 41st and 31st.
One of the worried readers who sent us letters about this issue is S.
Pérez, from Plaza municipality, who takes as an example the high number
of government offices on both sides of 23rd St. and the flower shops
alongside 12th so frequented by mourners heading for Columbus Cemetery
to make his point, as he thinks these measures "are highly detrimental
to the citizens financially, since we often have to go to those avenues
for reasons of work, business or pleasure, let alone that now we either
have to park in side streets with no spots for parking or pull up to
leave someone in one place and start driving around until they finish
what they came to do, which is time- and fuel-consuming", he remarks.
On this matter, Lt. Col. Georgina Gavilán, head of the Specialized
Department of the National Transit Authority, told Granma that
this measure falls within a program of reorganizing transportation, the
main purpose of which is to make traffic smoother on our roads and to
see to it that our buses and cars can travel with as few obstructions as
possible in their path.
She explained the parking ban in our main avenues came into effect as a
result of in-depth studies made by the Transit Authority and discussions
with organizations and entities located in those streets. There are
plenty of parking lots in the area around or nearby those office
buildings which any driver can use.
“It’s not a new restriction,” she assured, “but one long in place whose
enforcement we have neglected. Sometimes we see cars parked right next
to a no-parking sign, even if printed on them are the parking hours
according to the road they’re in. For instance, in some stretches
parking is allowed except between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., she reminded.
Today, she continued, we are working to recover areas initially designed
to serve as parking lots but then used for other purposes (as depots,
etc.) and fit out other spots to this end.
Clearing obstacles from the road
Trucks unloading merchandise by the curb of a main street in rush
hour has long been a familiar sight, the kind we expect to counteract
with another measures which require the approval of exceptional permits
and times of day for loading and/or unloading in those places.
“It’s a necessary activity, but one that must be done at night or at
times of low traffic flow,” Lt. Col. Georgina emphasizes, “the way it
was years ago with construction, resurfacing work and garbage
collection. Now we are demanding that state bodies and organizations
adjust their timetable to do this kind of work”.
Other frequent violations we see now and then are, among others, parking
by bus stops, on sidewalks, at crossroads with traffic lights and
non-assigned places with ground signs or a signpost in place stating the
prohibition.
The Ministry of the Interior is entitled to seize the license plate and
tow away or otherwise immobilize any vehicle either parked in illegal
places or obstructing traffic or the view of other drivers.
Illegal parking was the third most common traffic offense in 2008, right
after right-of-way violations and speeding, to the extent that 107,257
fines were recorded under that heading alone.
ORIGINAL:
http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2009/03/27/nacional/artic03.html
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http://www.granma.cubaweb.cu/2009/03/27/nacional/artic03.html