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Goodbye to Traffic Jams  At a Press Conference, the Chief Minister Peter Caruana, and the Minister for Transport, Joe Holliday and the Minister for the Environment, Ernest Britto, launched the Government’s integrated Traffic, Parking and Transport Plan. The Comprehensive Plan, to this statement deals with parking, traffic management, enforcement, roads and alternatives to motor car use. Many elements of the Plan are already well under way. Indeed some have been completed. This reflects the Government’s attention to these issues since 1996. However, in its Manifesto at the 2007 elections the Government identified Parking as an historical problem area upon which it would focus during this term of office. The Government has been doing so, and the Plan represents, in one of its many dimensions, the Government’s blue print for that. The Government will welcome comments and suggestions from any member of the public or organisation that will assist in further improving the Plan. Anyone who wishes to do so, should write to the Ministry of Transport at Europort by 30 November 2009. INTEGRATED TRAFFIC, PARKING AND TRANSPORT PLAN 1. INTRODUCTION This document sets out details of the Government's integrated and comprehensive traffic, parking and transport plan ("the Plan"), which is Gibraltar's first ever such plan. The Plan is published pursuant to the Government's electoral commitment to focus during this term on addressing Gibraltar's perennial traffic and parking issues. Any such Plan for Gibraltar is necessarily constrained by the size of Gibraltar, the limited number of roads and space to build new ones, and the number of vehicles on our roads (both local and visitors) in relation to our size. It is also affected by the extent of motor car use in Gibraltar, and by motorists' behaviour. It is not possible to eliminate traffic build up during peak times (colloquially called "rush hours"). PUBLIC CONSULTATION
Many of the elements of the Plan are already under way, and some are Government manifesto commitments, but the Plan is now published in full, by way of public consultation. The Government will welcome comments and suggestions from any member of the public or organisation that will assist in further improving the Plan. Any member of the public or entity that wishes to express a view about the content of the Plan, or any omission from it, should do so in writing addressed to the Ministry for Transport, Europort by 30 November 2009. The Plan brings together the Government's policy proposals in a variety of areas which impact, directly or indirectly, on traffic fluidity, parking availability road safety and the environment. These include the following areas, each of which is considered in more detail in the other sections of this document: • Car Parking facilities and schemes
- Residential areas, visitors & town centre - Building more car parks •Policing and Enforcement of Parking schemes
- Effective enforcement of 'Residents only parking schemes - Appointment of 'Parking Enforcement Officers' under Police management • New Roads
- Trafalgar interchange • Traffic Management and calming measures
- ' points' penalty system • Further Enhancement of Public Transport and other alternatives - Further improvements in public transport. 3. CAR PARKING FACILITIES & SCHEMES The Government's approach to parking, reflected in the Plan, is based on different schemes to address the different types of parking needs of different citizens at different times. The different types of citizens and parking needs are:
Local residents in the area where they live
Local residents when paying short visits to other parts of Gibraltar
Visitors to Gibraltar The implementation of this aspect of the Plan necessarily has to be gradual, phased and chronological. It is not appropriate to deny to visitors access to free street parking until the alternative {the multi storey park n ride) is available. Similarly, it is not appropriate to regulate or charge for any street parking for residents of Gibraltar until sufficient multi storey car parks have been provided in residential areas. Building more Car Parks This part of the Plan is already well under way. Multi storey car parks in residential areas have already been built at:
- Willis' Road (138 spaces) Additional car parking around the outside of the City walls has in recent years been provided at: - Commonwealth Parade (362 spaces) - Landport Ditch (125 spaces) These schemes have already added 1000 parking spaces in recent years. As the Government is committed during this term of office to fundamentally addressing once and for all the perennial parking problem in Gibraltar, the Plan provides for the construction of a number of further multi storey car parks around Gibraltar. This will provide long term parking for residents in all residential areas of Gibraltar, and will improve the availability of parking on short term visits to other parts of Gibraltar. Parking Projects already identified and being developed include the following:
• Grand Parade (expansion) (230 spaces) These projects will provide 2300 new, additional car parking spaces in Gibraltar. In addition the Government is building a new airport car park, and has plans for enhanced parking facilities at Eastern, Catalan Bay and Western beaches. Other elements of the plan relating to enhanced Parking facilities • Management of Derelicts In order to maximise the availability of street parking (and also remove eye sores from our streets), the Plan includes the simplification of the legal process and the resourcing of systematic and prompt removal of derelict vehicles from our streets. • Provision of more motor cycle parking Dedicated motor cycle parking bays will be provided in all areas. More such bays will be provided in the city centre and in the frontier areas. • Separating cars & motor cycles The practice of inserting motor cycles in between parked cars or in car parking spaces is detrimental to everyone. It reduces car parking spaces, it makes it difficult for cars to enter/exit parking spaces, it often leads to damage to motor cycles and (importantly) it often impedes the safe passage of pedestrians. Accordingly, as and when sufficient dedicated motorcycle parking is provided in an area, parking of motor cycles in or in between car parking spaces will be made illegal and will be effectively penalised (including removal) . 4. MANAGEMENT AND ENFORCEMENT OF PARKING SCHEMES The Plan recognises that mere introduction of schemes, however good, is not sufficient. Schemes also require to be effectively managed, policed and enforced, failing which the value and benefit of the scheme will be significantly diminished. This is currently the case of some of the 'residents only' schemes already introduced in some housing estates. The Plan recognises that Royal Gibraltar Police manpower resources are often focused on other policing priorities, and thus cannot be dedicated in any focused, constant or persistent way at policing parking and traffic issues. Also, new legislation will be required to deliver new policing and enforcement methods. Accordingly, the Plan provides for:
• The appointment of Parking and Traffic Enforcement Officers, employed by Gibraltar Car Parks Limited (a wholly owned Government Company) but working under the auspices and management of the RGP, to be responsible for the policing and enforcement of all government parking schemes in Gibraltar and supporting the RGP in traffic management duties. This will include street parking and meters, residents only parking schemes, and double and other parking which interferes with traffic fluidity and the identification and removal of derelict vehicles. This arrangement will replace the Government's current Traffic Management Division. 5. NEW ROADS
The Government's policy in relation to the creation of new roads is aimed at improving traffic fluidity by creating, where possible and required, additional, alternative routes and circulation space and expanding the capacity of existing roads. The scope for this is obviously limited by Gibraltar's size and geography.
•New road through Chatham Counterguard These road schemes have already improved traffic fluidity. A significant number of further, new road projects are currently under way to further enhance traffic fluidity and to eliminate or mitigate some of the main causes of traffic congestion that has affected Gibraltar historically. These include the following road projects:
• Trafalgar Interchange Roundabout and traffic Scheme
• New Road linking Europort to Queensway (at Coaling Island)
• Conversion of Devil's Tower Road to dual carriageway both ways
• New dual carriageway Road to Frontier via Aerial Farm and Eastern Beach
• Dual carriageway Tunnel under the runway at Eastern Beach
• Works to make safe the approach to, and reopen Dudley Ward Tunnel In addition the Government is working on the design and viability of still more road schemes such as:
- a road linking the Rosia area with Queensway via the Dockyard. This scheme would enable traffic from the South heading into Queensway to avoid the Trafalgar Interchange altogether. 6. TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND CALMING MEASURES The Plan includes other measures to address issues which adversely impact on parking, traffic fluidity and road safety, including the following:
• The introduction of a 'points' penalty system to discourage persistent offenders for whom fines are not an effective deterrent. 7. PUBLIC TRANSPORT, CAR USE REDUCTION MEASURES & PEDESTRIAN ISATION Over recent years, the Government has taken significant steps to improve the quality of the pedestrian's experience by excluding vehicular traffic from various areas through the pedestrianisation schemes. Examples include Casemates Square, Main Street, John Mackintosh Square, Irish Town and parts of Engineer Lane. Traffic fluidity and the environment will both benefit from measures that discourage the unnecessary use, or promote reduced use of motorcars in Gibraltar. To this end the Plan envisages the follow measures:
• The Parking Plan (above) will reduce the amount of traffic circulating while looking for parking. 8. IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES Given the comprehensive and extensive nature of the Plan, its implementation necessarily raises issues of phasing, chronology of deployment and disruption during implementation. The Government envisages a three year period for the completion of the Plan implementation, with much of it done within two years. Elements of the Plan, especially the construction of the road schemes and the new car parks will obviously result in traffic disruption and, in some areas in a temporary reduction in the availability of parking ( both of which will be kept to the minimum possible by careful project management and provision of temporary alternatives where possible. Gibraltar has not, before 1996, had a comprehensive and integrated Plan to address its historical parking and traffic issues. This Government accepted the challenge to address them in a`root and branch' way as a manifesto commitment, and this Plan is its blueprint for doing so. Clearly, unavoidable disruption and inconvenience will occur during its execution, which some may try to exploit for short term political opportunism. The Government is conscious of this, but nevertheless accepts the responsibility and challenge to rid Gibraltar of these historical obstacles to quality of life for the future. The prizes are well worth the short term inconvenience:
• Huge provision of new parking for both cars and motorbikes. The target of at least one `residents only' parking space or one exclusive reserved use parking space per household in all areas of Gibraltar. Separation of cars and motorbike parking.
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