When news broke out last year that the Central Business District (CBD) would implement car-free zones policy around the city in phases, members of the public received the announcement with mixed reactions.

Some argued that more feasible studies needed to be conducted to ensure a smooth transition.

Six months later, the project to implement the green city initiatives has excited many, especially the walk ways and bicycle lanes, but it has also come with shortfalls that have seen drivers decry the lack of adequate parking space within the CBD.

During the implementation of the car free zone, promises of designated parking spaces and shuttles were made but nothing has materialised, yet the city has gone ahead and reduced the available parking spots.

"Last year, people complained about lack of parking space in Kigali even before the car free zone was introduced. City of Kigali (CoK) assured us that everything was under control but now we are suffering and the City authorities who told us not to worry are nowhere to tell us what went wrong,” said Claude Ndimubatware, a businessman.

Ndimubatware said CoK authorities assured them that they could use the parking basements of Bank of Kigali, and M-Plaza in addition to the parking spaces available at Grand Pension Plaza, Centenary House, Union Trade Centre, and Kigali City Tower. However, not all these building are accessible.

"When it comes to banks, their parking slots are for their customers because no customer parks for long hours.

That’s how they monitor people who park for long and they are penalised. The parking fees are also high, I once paid Rwf500 for parking for an hour at M Peace Plaza,” he said, adding that the parking at M Peace Plaza is small and limited to specific individuals and this puts other car owners in a dilemma on where to park.

Buildings with public parking spaces have increased their parking charges to take advantage of the shortage.

Ndimubatware is not the only person affected. Beatrice Uwinkesha says that the whole project was not well thought through because it has instead increased traffic in some areas of the town.

"KN 78 St. (Ecole Belge Street) and KN 84 St. (below the car-free zone street) do not permit parking; they operate on a drop-off and pick-up policy. So you can imagine how parents with students at Ecole Belge drop off or pick up their children. The traffic is too much because no one is allowed to park there,” she said.

She added that streets such as KN 2 ST (Kigali City Market to City Plaza) KN 57 ST (Kipharma St) and KN 71 ST (CBD Mosque St) have also seen traffic increase because that’s where most cars now pass.

Many people also didn’t think that the option of Camp Kigali as a parking area is actually a solution although it’s said that it can accommodate more than 300 cars. The issues associated with parking at Camp Kigali are yet to be resolved because no cars are allowed to use the area.

"Camp Kigali is not a viable option because, it has conference infrastructure in place which makes it difficult to allow any random person to utilise the area. The University of Rwanda runs the place where we are supposed to park but it is yet to give us a go-ahead to start utilising the area,” said Benoit Mugisha, who works from downtown Kigali.

Mugisha says that he doesn’t mind leaving his car at Camp Kigali and walking to his place of work considering that his children study at Camp Kigali Primary School and he stays in Nyamirambo. However, he says that they haven’t gained access to the area. 

"Even parking along KN 3 Ave, (Kigali Serena Hotel area) for long is a problem. The same applies to KN 4 Ave., where CHUK is located,” he added.

The issue of lack of uniform fees in parking spaces also affects motorists and the people in charge of collecting fees admit that the high demand of parking spaces prompts them to charge higher fees because they get to make an extra buck.

"People want parking space but they are unable to find it, so what happens someone pays more money so that we reserve space for them. That is how you find that someone pays Rwf 500 per hour for space. It’s also a way for us to survive,” said a parking clerk who preferred anonymity.

Recently, the CoK identified other areas around the city where cars would no longer be allowed to park.

However, for lack of alternatives, some drivers still go ahead and park their cars. The unfortunate ones will find their cars clamped and have to pay fines.

According to experts, all growing cities do grapple with parking. However, proper planning, consultation with stakeholders and awareness can help mitigate the challenges.

Efforts to get an explanation from concerned CoK officials to address the issue were futile.

The City engineer Alphonse Nkurunziza said he was in a meeting and promised to get back to us but he had not by the time we went to press. Rauben Ahimbisibwe, the director of infrastructure unit, also said he was in a meeting.

editorial@newtimes.co.rw