Almaty authorities to return parking spaces on Kunaev and Baitursynov streets
Almost half of the interviewed businessmen suffered losses due to new bicycle lanes in Almaty.
Remind that on July 10 during a meeting of Almaty akim Bakytzhan Sagintayev with representatives of the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Kazakhstan and Almaty businessmen the entrepreneurs raised the issue of parking on sections of Baitursynov and Kunaev streets: the bicycle lanes stretch on both sides of these streets, as a result, the parking of cars is prohibited there. Recently it became known that Bakytzhan Sagintaev supported the proposal of businessmen and the Almaty Public Council to remove bicycle lanes on one side of the Baitursynov and Kunaev streets to make space for car parks.
The decision of the akim was announced at the briefing by his deputy Saparbek Tuyakbayev.
"An analysis has been carried out, the experts found out that several business objects have closed down, tenants have been reduced, and half of them have already left the Voskhod trading house. In several enterprises, income is decreasing by 2-5 times. Revenues to the budget are declining, jobs are shrinking. As a result of the analysis, it was decided to leave bicycle lanes on one side of the streets, and make parking on the other side," Saparbek Tuyakbayev said.
It is worth noting that the first complaints from businessmen on this issue began to arrive in the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Almaty since 2017.
The Chamber conducted a detailed study "Organization of motor transport movement in Almaty as a factor influencing the mood in the business environment".
The introduction of bicycle lanes on both sides along the entire length of Kunaev and Baitursynov streets entailed the dismantling of 24 free parking zones in Almaty.
The analysis revealed a decrease in the number of daily visits, purchasing activity and average check by a third.
The Chamber timed the movement of bicycles and found that the flow of bicycles along the bicycle lanes of Baitursynov, Shevchenko and Kunaev streets did not exceed 32 bicycles per hour on each street. It should be noted that in the world practice cycling lanes are built in cities where the popularity of cycling reaches a specific weight of 10 to 50% of all types of transport. In turn, in Almaty, this figure reaches only 1% or about 18,000 out of 1.8 million residents of the city.
There are 255 objects in the Baitursynov Street, two of them have been closed down. There are 392 objects are located on Kunaev Street, 11 of which are closed today.
"We have conducted a study that showed that because of the ban on spontaneous parking along the sidewalks of the streets 49.6% of entrepreneurs suffered financial losses. For example, 300 subjects of the Nikolsky market - pharmacies, retail outlets, beauty salons, ateliers, and others - on average, lost more than 30% of their daily income. In the Voskhod trading house, located at the intersection of Shevchenko and Kunaev streets, attendance is reduced by 40%, 50 boutiques out of 99 boutiques have closed today. In TOIMART on Kunaev Street, the income has fallen three times, at the Bohemia crystal trading house on Baitursynov Street the attendance has decreased by 50 %,” the director of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Almaty Nariman Abilshayikov said.
It should be noted that the bicycle lanes are located on both sides of these streets, therefore there is no possibility of parking for clients. According to the Administrative Offences Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, parking on the bicycle lane is fined at the rate of 10 MCI. In case of repeated violation within a year - a fine in the amount of 15 MCI.
Photos of the Almaty akim's press service
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