Islamabad: There has been a parking problem in Blue Area, one of the city’s business areas, and residents have complained about it. The CDA granted National Logistics Cell (NLC) a contract for the development of a multi-story parking complex in the area in December of last year.
According to sources, the authority issued the bid acceptance letter in January, but the letter confirming the start of construction has yet to be issued. “We concur that the start letter has yet to be issued. “There was a minor design issue that has been fixed, and it will be issued within the next few days,” stated a CDA engineering officer.
According to the CDA, the National Logistic Cell (NLC) got the contract after submitting the lowest price of Rs1,274.5 million. Along Jinnah Avenue in the Blue Area, a car parking plaza will be built beside Savour Foods.
At any given time, the parking plaza will be able to accommodate 1,300 vehicles. On the ground floor of this parking plaza, shops will be built, bringing in more cash for the CDA. On the fifth floor of the parking plaza, open-air eateries will be set up.
The parking plaza, according to an official, would be finished in a year after building began.
It’s worth noting that CDA announced a few years ago that it will build six parking plazas throughout the city, including three in Blue Area, one near Centaurus Mall, one in F-8 Markaz, two in F-10 Markaz, and one plaza each in Karachi Company and I-8 Markaz.
According to a CDA officer, the engineering wing has been working on the estimation of three more plazas, and the civic body would go through the tendering procedure for them as well.
The Islamabad Traffic Police had previously written to the CDA in 2016 to complain about a lack of parking spots in Blue Area and other business areas of the city, including F-8 Markaz, which houses the city’s district courts.
The CDA planned a few years ago to develop five park-and-ride plazas, but the project has yet to be completed. According to CDA authorities, the proposal was accepted by the civic agency’s board in 2015.
Meanwhile, instead of building multi-story parking plazas, the CDA built two underground parking spaces in Jinnah Super Market in the past, but despite millions of rupees spent on their construction, these parking lots were never fully utilized.
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