Regal to Crawford, 7 underground lots in fragmented parking plan…
Seven parking lots, aimed at accommodating 1,500 vehicles, will come up in the 3 sq km radius of the city’s most populated corner from Regal Cinema to Crawford Market.
The civic administration had earlier proposed a 1.5-km-long underground parking-cum-shopping-complex project from Regal Junction to Hutatma Chowk (Flora Fountain) but the plan, which would have accommodated around 5,000 vehicles, was dropped because of the large number of underground utilities and security concerns.
Now, the civic administration will construct separate underground lots below the existing ones from Churchgate till CST. The lots will come up at the existing parking spaces of Regal Junction (Traffic Island), opposite Jehangir Art Gallery, Hutatma Chowk (two), Eros Theatre and Crawford Market (2).
The civic administration had appointed the Government of India’s Urban Mass Transit Company (UMTC) as consultant, which suggested the scattered plan, saying excavation for a continuous stretch was not feasible without disrupting traffic.
The fragmented parking has reduced the capacity to 1,560 vehicles. Most of the allocation will be for four-wheelers with a small proportion for two-wheelers. “These lots will be smaller than initially planned and strictly for parking; no commercial exploitation will be allowed. We might have mechanised or manual parking depending on the bids we get,” a civic official said.
The project has been delayed for two years in the absence of bidders and because of other problems. Officials felt the size reduction would make the project feasible.
“We have received seven bids and a decision will be taken in two weeks and tenders awarded immediately. We hope the work starts after monsoon,” an official said.