Guri City to Resolve Parking Shortage in Galmaedong by Converting to 'Road-Expanded Street Parking Lots'

[Suwon Ilbo = Reporter Eom In-yong] Guri City announced on the 26th that it will efficiently improve the public parking lot project to address the chronic parking shortage in Galmaedong.

The city has reviewed the existing plan to construct a parking lot within buffer green space in Galmaedong and is instead proceeding with a method of expanding the road to create a street (perpendicular) parking lot.

This change, which was approved at the Public Property Review Committee meeting in March, is significant in that it is not merely a plan modification but the result of 'field-oriented administration' that comprehensively considers actual usability, safety, and civil complaints.

The project area is a district in Galmaedong where single-family homes and commercial areas are mixed, and parking space shortages have been continuously raised as vehicle traffic from commercial establishments and residents concentrates in the area.

Accordingly, the city had been promoting the construction of a public parking lot in the buffer green space area of Galmaedong 623 and 625, but discovered drawbacks of the original off-road flat-type parking lot method, including inefficient access/egress lanes, inefficient parking spaces, and the need for green space to vitalize the surrounding commercial district. As a result, the city decided to switch to a street parking lot method through road expansion.

Through this change, approximately 900 square meters of the existing buffer green space will be converted to a road and developed into a street parking lot, which can expand from the original plan of 26 parking spaces to approximately 60 spaces.

The key is not simply increasing the number of spaces but maximizing the efficiency of space utilization through structural improvements to enhance actual user convenience.

This plan change prioritizes pedestrian safety and reducing inconvenience to residents.

While the creation of street parking lots in some sections was initially considered, concerns were raised about potential conflicts with pedestrian flow, worries about impeding vehicle traffic, and the possibility of complaints from nearby residents, leading to a determination that a more stable alternative was necessary.

In particular, during the deliberation process of the Urban Architecture Joint Committee, the opinion was presented that "applying a perpendicular parking method can improve parking efficiency and address problems that occur when vehicles turn," and the perpendicular parking method based on road expansion was finally decided.

This is evaluated as a policy supplementation process to secure both safety and efficiency beyond facility expansion.

The project is currently proceeding with administrative procedures such as changes to urban management plans, and is scheduled to proceed according to the following timeline: △March-May: Re-deliberation by the Urban·Architecture Joint Committee △May: Implementation plan approval △June-July: Construction and completion.

Once the project is completed, parking conditions in and around the commercial district and residential area of Galmaedong are expected to improve significantly, and changes with high citizen recognition such as alleviating parking stress within the living environment and improving pedestrian environments are anticipated.