PARKING PROBLEM - GRIDLOCK DEADLOCK

A persistent and growing parking gridlock is severely obstructing traffic flow in some communities on Grand Cayman to the extent that it’s becoming unsafe for pedestrians and motorists.

The situation has become so serious that the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service(RCIPS) says it cannot be resolved by only issuing parking tickets but requires a more indepth and far-reaching solution.

The RCIPS says it often receives parking complaints from communities where vehicles are blocking the public roadway and making it unsafe for pedestrians and motorists to safely pass.

It says when officers conduct enquiries, it is revealed, there is often higher occupancy at the corresponding tenanted properties, than parking allows for on the lot. This results in the spillover of vehicles onto the roadside.

”In one instance, when officers went to make checks, a rental property had more derelict vehicles in designated parking spaces than actual working vehicles. Officers issued tickets to the tenants for obstructing the roadway. Soon after, the landlord made adjustments to allow for more vehicles on their property,” the RCIPS said in an update on the worsening problem.

“This issue goes beyond police enforcement - tickets only get us so far”, says Inspector Ian Yearwood, Head of Community Policing. “Instead, the community must work with the police and other partners to find solutions to improve the situation for all residents, including; the removal of derelict cars to free up space on lots for working cars to park, making changes to lots to allow extra space for vehicles, restricting the number of vehicles at tenanted residences, and ensuring that when persons do need to park on the roadway it is only done where there is space for drivers to safely pass by, especially in the case of emergency services vehicles. We must work together to prevent the blockages occurring on our residential streets”.

The RCIPS is advising landlords that rental properties must allow enough parking for the number of tenants intending to occupy the property. “Not only can illegally parking on a roadway result in a parking infringement, it also affects the quality of life for residents who share the roadway, and becomes a major hazard when it obstructs larger emergency vehicles from responding to save life or property.”

As part of the RCIPS holiday campaign, “Winter Guardian”, patrols will be targeting communities to assess parking complaints and will issue parking infringements to anyone blocking public roadways. The RCIPS encourages landlords and tenants to work together to remedy any parking overflow issues at rental properties to ensure our roadways are unobstructed.

Observers familiar with the problem fear that “this is a trend which will have dire consequences” and point out that it also severely restricts garbage collection in the affected areas - which leads to other environmental health complications.

Also linked to the issue are matters with wider implications including concerns about Cayman’s ability to cope with a spiralling population density and how this affects the delivery of certain types of public services such as traffic control, garbage collection and housing among others.