THE NICOSIA Municipality will launch a pilot project for residential on-street permit parking in the old town as of next month, according to a statement from the Mayor’s office.
The pilot scheme will include Vassiliou Voulgaroktonou, Eleftherias, Artemidos, Arsinois, Megalou Alexandrou, Ouzounian, Favierou and Alexiou Komninou streets in the south west of the old town and Ektoros and Ammochostou streets in the east.
The permit will be given only to residents to place on their windshields.
According to the municipality, the project aims at facilitating parking for the old town’s permanent residents, who have been complaining for years about the lack of parking places.
The Head of the Municipality’s Studies Department, Yiannakis Lazarou, said that the pilot programme would last a few months and, if successful, would be implemented in other areas of the municipality. “We believe this system will make things much better for residents who currently struggle to find a place to park outside their own homes,” said Lazarou.
He added that the parking scheme would also provide for people visiting the areas. “Of course there will be certain parking places for visitors as well, as many areas of Nicosia are both residential and commercial,” said Lazarou.
Asked about whether policing the system would require hiring more staff and incur greater costs for taxpayers, Lazarou said that this would not be the case as the municipality would aim to increase the frequency of police patrols in the specified areas but not necessarily the number of policemen.
Mayor Eleni Mavrou has invited all residents of the streets participating in the pilot scheme to an informative presentation on the September 6 at the Municipality’s central offices near Eleftheria Square. “We are open to suggestions from the public, and we would like to hear their opinions on how to make the residents parking system better and more user-friendly,” said Lazarou.
He also added that if the system proves successful, and before its full implementation, the Municipality will make sure the wider public of Nicosia, including visitors to the area, is informed of the rules of residential on-street permit parking with relevant announcements.
Meanwhile the municipality also announced yesterday that it had informed the 10 shortlisted contracting companies from Cyprus and abroad to go ahead in preparing their offers and to submit them by September 26 for the restoration work in Eleftheria Square, they announced yesterday.
The work is set to begin by the end of the year.
The project involves the renovation of the moat as well as the installation of ramps and lifts, the maintenance and improvement of the walls, outdoor lighting and toilets. Omirou Avenue will be widened as well as resurfaced. There will be a new bus stop, underground parking and new pavements.
The final draft of the project, co-financed by the EU’s Regional Development Fund, the Municipality and the Republic of Cyprus, will be publicly displayed from August 29 to September 23 at the Ledra Information Office.
The project is part of several being carried out by the municipality, including work on Solomou Square to make it efficient and modern along with other improvements such as road works, infrastructure projects and the propping up of old, dangerous buildings.
