Talks to sort out traffic dispute

The Urban Development Authority (UDA) has stepped in to sort out a vehicle parking issue that has arisen in a highly residential neighbourhood in Colombo where three international schools are located. Residents say school-going traffic is causing them major problems.

According to UDA deputy director Prasanna Wijethunge, the three schools had originally submitted plans to the UDA that clearly indicated space allocated for parking vehicles. But school-linked traffic was now overflowing into the roads and lanes in the area.

“At the time the UDA gave its approval, the schools had indicated that their parking spaces were within the schools’ premises,” Mr Wijethunge said. “But now the schools don’t permit parking inside the school premises. So the parking is done outside, and this has resulted in traffic problems.”

At a meeting last week that was attended by UDA and Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) officials, residents and school authorities, the three schools were given time to submit their original plans showing space allocated for parking.“We told the schools to submit the approved plans by next week, and that they should indicate the possibility of opening up parking spaces or expanding the present parking lots,” Mr. Wijethunge said.

Thalakotuwa Gardens comprises about 150 houses lining five private lanes, along with the three international schools. Residents say vehicles parked in the lanes block the entrances to the garages of their homes, and that heavy traffic congestion during school hours has had an adverse effect on the neighbourhood.

“There are three international schools, and the volume of vehicles bringing the children to these schools is extremely heavy,” said Mrs. M. de Silva, one of the residents. “We have even heard of cases of children from the same family coming to school in separate vehicles. These cars are parked down our lanes, and often right in front of our houses.”

Mrs. de Silva said residents of one of the five lanes had even gone so far as to employ someone to hang a chain at the top of the lane to prevent “outside” vehicles from entering. “There are no shops in the area, so we have to go to the main road to buy our stuff,” she said. “But we can’t do anything until these cars leave. Meanwhile, the non-residents sit in their cars in the middle of the lane reading a book or listening to music until their children’s school is over.”

One resident said she could not get an ambulance to come to her home to take her sick son to hospital because of the heavy afternoon traffic.“Schools should have proper car parks,” said Elmo Wijesinghe, a long-term resident of Thalakotuwa Gardens. “Almost all the children come to these schools by car or van. Having these vehicles in the way throughout the day is a great inconvenience to us.”

One of the three schools in Thalakotuwa Gardens is the Asian International School. Its principal Goolbai Gunasekara said the school was aware of the problem and had requested the traffic police to step in. “Every school in Colombo has traffic problems,” she said. “We have a car park that can accommodate 40 to 50 vehicles, something no other school in Colombo provides.”

Mrs. Gunasekera also referred to the area’s poor road conditions. “There are quite a lot of exits points, but these are not used because the road surfaces are so bad. If the officials acted, there wouldn’t be so much traffic,” she added.

H. Haashim, principal of Ilma International Girls School, also in Thalakotuwa Gardens, said the schools were staggering their hours so as to avoid overlap and thus reduce traffic congestion. “We start at 8.05 am and close at 2.40 pm,” she said. “One of the other schools starts at 7.05 am. We are doing our best to reduce congestion.”