The Motril Town Council is contemplating making the whole of the centre of Motril into a carless zone; i.e., a no-go-zone for nearly 14,000 vehicles.
The Mobility Department of the Town Hall has carried out a study and came up with the conclusion that the vast majority of cars and bikes in the centre of Motril are just driving around and around, trying to find somewhere to park.
Do you know how many parking spaces there are in the very centre of Motril? You’re going to love this! Thirty-seven! Yup over 13,000 vehicles vying over 37 parking spaces. Obviously, the bikes park where the hell they like but the cars and vans…
However, in the rest of the centre there are 473 surface parking spaces, but even so, that’s still very high odds against finding one empty just as you chug around the corner.
Seeing as you like these facts, here are some more.
Total numbers of vehicles registered the municipality: 21,141 (2015 figures). 2,145 are ones that belong in the centre; i.e., their owners live there.
Available parking places in Motril are, including underground car parks: La Matraquilla (775 plazas), Plaza del Tranvía (95), Plaza de la Aurora (200 plazas) and Garvayo (318).
Vehicle movement in the centre during work days: 13,368 movements. That’s 68% of all ‘movements.’
Pedestrians represent 27% of all movements (5,308), public transport (4%) 786 movements and bicycles represent only one percent of all movements in the centre of Motril.
So, basically, the Town Council is considering, “Why not put them out of their misery and turn the whole of the centre into a car-free zone?”
The Councillor for Mobility reasons, “When you go up to Granada, what’s the first thing that you do? Answer: think about where are you going to park.” So, you head for a parking area, normally an underground one, that is nearest to where you have to go within the city. That’s what Councillor Escámez wants for Motril – you go to Motril; you head for a car park.
It was back in 2002 that Calle Larios, for example, was pedestrianized, together with the Plaza de la Constitución (the town hall square). This changed the whole nature of the centre of the town. Another example was the Plaza de la Libertad (where the Tax Office used to be)
He recognized that the complete pedestrianization of the centre of Motril could upset businesses and residents, in the beginning, at least.
Editorial comment: town halls want to ban cars but continue to tax them, bless them…
(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)