The issue of parking lots created on pavements in Chisinau, in particular as part of the recent renovation of the street Vasile Alecsandri, is discussed in a new article by the sic! project.
“The image of cars occupying the pavement has become ingrained in the canvas of Chisinau city. Essentially, the pavement is gradually being stolen from the pedestrians,” this is how the article identifies the general problem.
What follows is an excerpt from the article:
What's the solution proposed by the City Hall?
Whereas at the beginning of his first term in 2007 the Mayor was critical of the practice of parking on the pavement, advocating for multi-storey and underground parking systems among other solutions, later Dorin Chirtoaca chooses the path of the least effort and sets them up directly on the pavement.
Moreover, Mayor Dorin Chirtoaca proposes creating such parking lots even as part of the street renovation projects funded by European institutions.
What is the best solution in the world, according to the Mayor?
As part of the rehabilitation project for Alecsandri Street, the City Hall is setting up parking lots on the pavement either entirely, or partially, where partially means that cars are expected to mount with two lateral wheels on a specially created narrow platform.
“Parking lots on Vasile Alecsandri Street, above 31 August (Street), are being set up parallel to the street, either entirely on the pavement, or partially. (...) A better solution than this I haven't seen at anyone anywhere in the world”, stated Dorin Chirtoaca.
Why is the best solution not actually the best?
Anyone taking a stroll on the renovated street, without even being an urban planning expert, can see the following: there is no unique standard for the created parking lots. In the absence of such clear standards, the drivers are confused as to how they should park”.
The article goes on by listing some of the solutions that are, as per the European best practices, better that the solution of creating parking lots on the pavement.
The full article can be read (in Romanian) on the website of sic! project.
sic! is an IPN project implemented with the financial support of Soros Foundation Moldova. The goal of sic! is to identify lies, inaccuracies and manipulation in public statements with an impact and to inform the general public about them in a simple and accessible way.