Larnaca municipality has announced the official end of any free parking along the Phinikoudes promenade, and will be clamping down on illegal parking along the strip, as well as along the new Piale Pasha coastal road.
Although Phinikoudes had originally been a no-stopping/parking zone, there was a grace period of free parking from 2012 whilst a municipality multi-storey parking lot behind Laiki Yitonia was being constructed. This grace period ended with the completion of the multi-storey in July 2014, with some lay-by spaces remaining as free parking at certain hours of the day, which have now also officially come to an end.
In the case of Piale Pasha, the road was always intended to be a strictly no-stopping/parking zone, but an error in planning left no spaces for residents and delivery vehicles, and also left the road a little too wide, allowing cars to illegally park tightly, causing problems for the flow of traffic. As the area was still considered under construction, the municipality was unable to clamp down on illegal parkers effectively, but with the road’s official completion, enforcing the law will now start in full effect.
In a bid to ease the issue of parking in the area, a car park for 350 cars was opened in August 2014, opposite the ice-cream parlours on the part of the strip that has recently been renamed ‘Tasos Mitsopoulos Avenue’.
The municipality has published a map showing every legal parking space offered in the proximity of the town centre – which total over 1000 spaces – comprised of various municipal and private multi-storeys, the old market parking and other private lots, with varying fees, as well as metered parking. There is also free parking available in the plot adjacent to the Zenon bus depot, which is located opposite the social security and employment offices. The Zenon bus depot was previously open to the public to park but is now strictly for the bus company’s vehicles. The parking to the right of the offices is available to the public to park for free after 3pm but is not for public use before this time.
Members of the public are requested to adhere to the laws of legal parking or face the consequences, which include fines reaching €85, and for which the municipality claims it will start to enforce more vigilantly following a further period of leniency over the Easter holidays.
Cyprus Weekly
