the days of free parking at macritchie reservoir park are numbered! looks like the nparks people are going to resolve the problem of insufficient parking space at macritchie reservoir park the usual singapore way - by making walkers and joggers pay to stay healthy. actually, the problem arises on weekends and public holidays only; on weekdays, there is no shortage of parking space.
so, when a park or garden, like the botanic gardens, gets too popular with health conscious people, the solution is to implement paid parking. in some parks, like the ones at punggol and choa chu kang, they outsource the management of the parking to the respective restaurants operating in the two parks.
over at the botanic gardens, concession of one hour free parking is granted between 11.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m. however, not all popular parks charge for parking. over at bukit timah nature reserve, one of the most popular venues for excercise enthusiasts, parking is still free. at east coast park, it is not difficult to find a free-parking space if one is not picky.
before the macritchie car-park was upgraded and consolidated, it was never a problem finding a space to park at macritchie reservoir park but exiting was a problem because of the heavy volume of traffic at the former exit point. those days, i used to park at the private housing estate.
hopefully, they will implement a system in which paid parking is imposed during 'peak hours' only - that is, on weekends and public holidays. alternatively, there can be a system whereby the genuine park users are not penalised. they could devise a system which allows for complimentary parking for under three hours; beyond that (three hours), then the parking charges kick in.
one retiree has written to the straits times' forum page to make this proposal:
A PARKING toll gantry has been installed at the currently toll-free carpark at MacRitchie Reservoir Park, a favourite haunt of many elderly park users for their exercise routine.
As most users are retirees, I hope the authorities will consider two hours of free parking to allow them to continue to visit the park for their healthy routine.
To make up for the loss, impose a higher-than-normal rate for subsequent hours.
