Breach Candy residents draw up parking plan to ward off future traffic nightmares

MUMBAI: Breach Candy residents seek reserved parking ahead of Coastal Road promenade's opening, proposing a plan for 200 resident and 250 visitor spots.

MUMBAI: With the promise of the Coastal Road promenade at Breach Candy set to attract many more visitors to the area, local residents are hoping to secure parking spaces for themselves before the influx hits. The Breach Candy Residents Forum (BCRF) has charted a paid parking plan for the area, and is now out to get officials on board with it.

Breach Candy residents draw up parking plan to ward off future traffic nightmares

“The plan has been in the making for at least six months,” said N Lakhani, one of the many BCRF members who cobbled suggestions and grievances together to come up with a detailed scheme aimed at reserving approximately 200 spots for the residents and 250 for visitors.

“Our area is already beset with major parking issues, and we are expecting them to get worse with the promenade and later the green spaces on the Coastal Road,” said Lakhani. “We were not agreeable to the underground parking lot at Amarsons, and so approached the traffic department with a viable alternative.”

Residents of old buildings such as Beach View, with little to no internal parking, have it so tough, said Lakhani, that many buildings hire parking valets. “People don’t want to spend more time after a long day at work looking for a nearby parking spot, and then walk back home,” he said.

With visitors to Breach Candy Hospital, religious spaces and shops parking and double-parking on both sides of the road, the main Bhulabhai Desai Road is hugely congested. Local residents are often fined for parking on the road, adding to their burden.

The proposed plan has several potential parking spots marked out. For residents, there are five zones: the spaces behind the Indian Oil Petrol Pump, Larsen & Toubro office and in front of Signature Garden offer 80 spots, while spaces near Mona Apartments and Akruti could yield 110 to 115 spots.

For visitors, 60 spots have been earmarked at Setalvad Lane, Amarsons Garden Lane, Mazda and Dil Pazir buildings on the south side and 175 to 200 spots on the north side at Sehar Agiary Lane, the lapsed Navroze Taxi Stand, Akruti and the prospective Breach Candy Hospital parking lot. In the future, the Haji Ali underground parking will offer 400 spots to visitors, but at a distance. All these spots are proposed on a pay-and-park basis, with a time-wise pricing system suggested.

“Residents’ parking spots should have stickers, and after they are allotted, no more parking should continue on the main road,” says the plan. “Breach Candy Hospital must agree to take in at least 30 patient and visitor cars for now, and more after their parking lot on the reclaimed land comes up. There must be drop-off and pick-up points made for schools and temples.”

The plan has got an enthusiastic response from the Tardeo traffic station, said Lakhani, who, along with residents, did a preliminary recce on Monday. More meetings with senior traffic police officials are planned, and other institutions in the area will also be included in the plan as it progresses.