Project under way to allocate parking space on Medina St.

AMMAN — A Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) project to allocate parking spaces on the capital’s busy Medina Munawarah Street is expected to finish in three months, a municipality official said on Wednesday. 

GAM first started constructing parking spaces outside restaurants and commercial offices on the street three months ago, GAM’s deputy city director of public works Yaser Atiyat said. 

“The project is aimed at organising traffic flow and separating the main street from parking spaces. We started work three months ago but we were delayed because of the weather conditions,” he told The Jordan Times over the phone. 

The divider separating parking areas from the road will include entrance and exit spaces along each block for the benefit of store owners, Atiyat said.

He noted that double parking is a huge problem on the busy street, lined with over a hundred restaurants and cafés, causing traffic jams and sometimes accidents. 

“This street has a great number of restaurants and this is one of the main reasons that makes it full of cars,” he added. 

The ongoing project has gained supporters and detractors.

Rafat, a parking valet, said the new project will make it easy for motorists to park. 

“It is good because it helps organise traffic flow and makes it easy for customers to park and buy what they want. Many of the customers I deal with expressed their joy over the idea,” he told The Jordan Times as he waited for customers. 

Sameer Abdo, an employee at a store on the street, said a limited number of shops will benefit from this kind of service. 

“Stores located on the entrance and exit of the parking lots will only benefit from the project while the rest will be forced to hire valets to attract customers,” he added. 

Abdo said the traffic jam is not because of the lack of parking space, blaming it on the great number of vehicles passing by the street. 

Other merchants and employees interviewed by The Jordan Times opposed the project, saying that it has had a negative impact on their businesses.

Emad Naser, an employee at a grocery store, said the ongoing construction of the parking spaces discouraged motorists from heading to the street’s stores because they cannot park properly. 

Mahmoud, an employee at a supermarket, agreed, adding that the construction work contributed to reducing the store’s profit by half.

“The project will not solve the problem. Instead, it will result in a great traffic jam because the parking space is narrow so it will be difficult for motorists to park,” he added. 

Fuad Quraini, a supervisor at a restaurant, suggested stopping this project and making motorists park for only 30 minutes.

Shadi Abu Lail, the owner of a pizza place, said the project has exacerbated the traffic jams starting from Al Harmein Intersection towards Medina Munawara and created more congestion on the opposite lane.

“Our business was affected and we are unable to meet the expenses of our stores, so we were forced to lay off many employees,” he added. 

GAM’s Atiyat said Huriah Street in the Muqabalein area will also witness a similar project soon. 

“A number of projects will be implemented to ensure smoother traffic flow. Traffic lights will be installed on the 8th, 5th, 6th and Al Harmein intersections,” he added.