site.btaUPDATED Protesters Block Traffic at Sofia’s Chavdar Bridge, Demand Withdrawal of Paid Parking Zone Amendments
Protesters blocked traffic at Sofia’s Chavdar Bridge near Vladimir Vazov Boulevard, demanding the withdrawal of amendments to Sofia Municipality’s Ordinance on Traffic Organization, which expand paid parking zones and increase parking fees and subscription rates. There is heightened police presence in the area.
Demonstrators said they would remain on the roadway until they receive a response from the institutions.
“We are here because no one asked us. In a few months, we will wake up to a parking fee for a muddy puddle. In [the] Poduyane [District] there is no infrastructure, no parking, the streets are not cleared of snow and leaves, there is no lighting. In a few months we will be paying for all this,” said Eleonora Angelova, one of the protest organizers, addressing the crowd.
Angelova said that paying for parking is not the issue, but citizens need to know what they are paying for and where their money goes. She added that the mayor of the Poduyane District, Kristiyan Hristov, had been invited to the protest, although she doubted he would attend.
Attending the protest, Sofia City Council Chair Tsvetomir Petrov said that the guarantee that the money collected from expanding the blue and green paid parking zones and increasing parking fees will be used to build infrastructure is the creation of a dedicated programme through which the funds will be spent. Each year, the revenue generated from local parking and fines will go directly to Sofia Municipality, and 50% of it will be allocated to the district where it was collected. The remaining 50% will go to the municipality, and all of it will be spent on projects, he explained.
/KK/
Additional
news.modal.image.header
news.modal.image.text
news.modal.download.header
news.modal.download.text
news.modal.header
news.modal.text