Over 5,000 new parking spaces to come up in Al Ain

More than 5,000 new parking slots are set to be created in Al Ain city starting March 1, transport authorities in Abu Dhabi announced on Monday, February 17
The Integrated Transport Centre (ITC) of the Department of Municipalities and Transport in Abu Dhabi said that with the initiative, a total of 5,198 paid parking bays  will be built in Al Ain Mall area (Othman Ibn Affan Street) and Al Sarouj area (Zayed bin Sultan Street).
Motorists are now advised to secure parking permits before the activation of the scheme in their areas.
"The ITC calls on motorists in residential areas to obtain resident parking permits from affiliated customer happiness centres or online via (www.itc.gov.ae) before the activation of the parking management to avoid fines. Permits shall be valid from the actual date of the service launch," officials said.
Annual permit fees for expat residents are Dh800 for the first year and Dh1,200 for the second. Permits are also issued bi-annually for Dh400 for the first one and Dh600 for the second - based on the remaining time of the tenancy contract, or according to the tenant's request.
Specifically, there will be 830 standard parking bays at Al Hosn; 581 at Al Murabaa; 1,492 at Al Neyadat; and 2,137 standard parking bays along with 158 premium parking bays at Al Kuwaitat.
The project is part of the second phase of Al Ain's new public parking scheme called Mawaqif, which seeks to provide innovative parking solutions, streamline traffic flow, and organise parking in the city.
Owing to the city's growing population and a significant increase in the number of registered vehicles, Mawaqif has been implemented in Al Ain since August 2017.
"The overall objective is to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and reduce random parking all over the city," officials said in a statement.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi

Ismail Sebugwaawo

ismail@khaleejtimes.com