Sharjah to have 4,000 paid parking zones

 Paid parking zones in Sharjah will be increased from the existing 32 to 4,000 in the coming years, the Sharjah Municipality has revealed.
Ahmed Albirdan, head of Public Parking Department at Sharjah Municipality, said that 1,534 locations have been identified to establish new parking areas in the emirate.
Albirdan said: "Our future plan to have nearly 4,000 parking zones will see the establishment of 28,010 new paid parking slots in Sharjah."
He added that the Sharjah Municipality has installed 28 new parking machines and most of them in are in Al Majaz, Central Market and Al Majara areas.
The head of public parking department said that the number of payment devices has reached 1,060 devices and many projects are in the anvil for making them more user-friendly to provide better standards of service for the public.
He added that the municipality ban people from parking in certain areas and they have to park for limited time near the mosques, and those who violate this will be subject to fines. He warned that municipal inspectors are out there to nab the violators and they are working within a shift system even during the official holidays.
Albirdan said that the SMS payment option is one of the most successful projects introduced by the Sharjah civic body's parking department, as it helps the motorists who forget to make the payment before parking or when the device is in a remote place, especially during the summer season.
On other hand, the Sharjah Municipally has announced recently the closure of 17 parking in investment areas for not abiding by the rules. Atif Al Zarouni, director of public parking said that the 277 investment area violations include 150 parking rule violations.
Meanwhile, the department of planning and survey has announced 340 investment parking plans for which 10 per cent will be on government plots rented out for investors and the rest will be owned by individuals. 
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