[rajushank84]

Hi Chennaiites!

As we all know, the car is getting to be less and less a luxury, and parking space is becoming the luxury. Many of us own cars, but when we want to go out, the first thing that goes into the head of the guy who owns & drives the car is, "Where to park?". Sometimes this even becomes an irritating factor for the (non-driving) family/friends and they say "You are always obsessed with parking. You are paranoid". But they will never understand our problem. I am sure, what I am saying will strike a chord with most of you.

In my case, I have found a few ways of dealing with this:
1. Hire a driver for the day and leave the headache to him
2. Go only to places with known parking spaces.
3. Leave the car in some place which has parking, and take an autorickshaw from there.
4. Don't take the car at all - take the bike or bus instead! (kinda defeats the purpose of buying a car, doesn't it? But no other go, if you're headed into the streets of Broadway for example).


So what I thought is: Let us list all the places in Chennai that have ample parking space. This will enable us to plan out our ventures into the city.

Let me start with a few:

Places which usually have parking:

If you're headed to any of these areas, just take the car without any second thought.

• Spencer Plaza - my favorite. Almost always has parking.
  
• Velachery Bypass road - parking is usually available except in weekend evenings, but be careful. Towing does happen here in no-parking slots.
  
• Ampa Mall - Multi-level parking is there.
  
• Express Avenue - Though parking is usually available, it is ridiculously expensive. . Maybe that is a good thing, as peope who are willing to pay more are rewarded.
  
• Marina Beach
  
• Besant Nagar Beach
  
• Outer stretches of OMR and ECR - not a problem at all! For eg. Mayajaal is the most parking-friendly multiplex, for obvious reasons.
  
• Un-crowded suburbs like Medavakkam / Pallikaranai / Sholinganallur no problem. Can leave the car just about anywhere.
  
• North-west areas like Ambattur / Maduravoyal / Mogappair no problem. Plenty of roadside places to put the car.

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Places to reach early if you want to park:

These places do have parking, but they are usually full, so it is better to plan these trips such that you reach early morning.

• Anna Nagar - Though a lot of parking slots are planned, they are usually full especially in the weekends. Better to plan to reach in the morning rather than evening.
  
• Mylapore / Luz: Of late I have found it close to impossible to find an empty parking slot here. Better to be an early bird.
  
• T Nagar (ladies' favorite): Same as Mylapore. There are some slots on the Pondy Bazaar area, but they usually fill up very quickly especially in the weekends. Advisable to reach there early morning and plonk the car there, and do all moving around by walk / autorickshaw.
  
• City Centre - of the four times I attempted to go there, I could succeed only once. The other three times, I was bluntly told "no parking available". Better to reach in the morning if you want to spend a day at City Centre.

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Places to avoid going to by car:

• Triplicane: Forget taking the car anywhere here.
  
• Broadway / Parrys / Burma Bazaar: Same as Triplicane. In fact, forget even taking the bike here.
  
• Ritche Street
  
• Anywhere on Mount Road.
  
• Saidapet area
  
• Adyar area - parking is very very precious and towing happens all the time. Be careful even with bike. There is a tiny space just under the bridge. If you HAVE to visit Adyar by car, try to catch one of these places under the flyover in the morning itself.
  
• Ayanavaram / Kilpauk / Nungambakkam / Kodambakkam / Chetpet area - venture with car only if you have relatives with parking space in the area. Some people will have ample parking for themselves in their flats, but "visitors vehicles not allowed". When you call to find out beforehand, they will blithely say, "Parking is not a problem, dont worry" - of course, it is not a problem for them. Do yourself a favor, take the bike instead.
  
• Anywhere on the Ashok Pillar Road - completely "no parking"
  
• Anywhere on the GST, north of Chromepet - totally "no parking".
  
• Movie theatre - park the car in a movie theatre ONLY if you're going for the movie. Many of the movies have show-time based slots, and you'll create a mess for everyone if you leave the car way beyond the show time. And the security guy will be furious. Having said that, I once put the car in Devi theatre, went to Ritchie Street to buy a computer, was back before the movie ended. But you have to time it very carefully.

Veteran Chennaites, add more. Share your long-learnt tips & tricks, secret spots, do's and don'ts, and maybe also how you handle the situation when you see a lock on the car or it is towed away. One place where I've never explored from a parking angle is children's park. Is it a good place to put the car for a day?


Note: If it is useful, other city residents can start similar threads.

[camchennai]

Informative one thanks for bringing this up.

Ampa mall parking is sick, On weekends it’s very difficult to get a parking space, one needs to climb till the roof top to get a parking and bad part is the unorganized elevator operators they don’t even stop. That mall is completely un-organized.

However there is one short cut method to get parking in Ampa

Tell them you are going to Star Bazaar so that they will open up the basement parking, else it would be kept closed always. Basement parking is exclusive for Star Bazaar customers

[rajushank84]

@camchennai: Thanks for the tip about Ampa! That is exactly the kind of tips & tricks I want to get out of this thread

[DWind]

Would like to add, Avoid Abirami Mega mall / Pursaiwakkam if you want to park your car.
For City Centre, dont they have additional parking at St. Bede's ground during weekends? I remember parking there a year back.

[bblost]

Is there any long term parking space available in Chennai?

By long term I mean around 2 - 3 years with a max of 5. Space needed for an Aria.

[r_devakumar]

I have to go to Ritche Street this week. I am planning to park my car in Spencer Plaza and then go by walk/bus. Is there any other parking place closer to Ritche Street?

Regards
Deva

[atlantis0965]

hi
does anyone let me know of some safe parking space near the abirami theatre?

i need it on weekdays from morning 7 to afternoon 1330 till the first week of may 2014

i am also willing to shell out some reasonable amount.

do let me know.

[greenhorn]

This thread is a godsend! I used to think I was paranoid about parking, but I guess I'm not the only one.

[hothatchaway]

Any clue about parking spots at or near Chennai central railway station? There must be parking at the station of course but I understand things are very chaotic nowadays thanks to metro construction.

Anything within 1 km of the station would also be great

[AltoLXI]

I am planning for trip to Andamans in April end. To avoid extra airfare, I am planning to drive to Chennai from Bangalore and fly from there. I will be back in week's time and have planned a couple of days in Chennai once back from Andamans and then drive back to Bangalore.

What is the best option for me to park my car in Chennai for a week?

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by rajushank84

Veteran Chennaites, add more..

I am not a veteran Chennaite, but it holds fond memories for me, having stayed there for 5 years (2000-2005).

Back then, the road leading from Ashok Nagar to Vadapalani used to have plenty of parking, and very few no parking zones. Ditto for the road going to Kathipara junction via Kasi Theatre/Jafferkhanpet.

Don't know what the situation is now, though.

Cheers,
Vikram

[arvind71181]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

I am planning for trip to Andamans in April end. To avoid extra airfare, I am planning to drive to Chennai from Bangalore and fly from there. I will be back in week's time and have planned a couple of days in Chennai once back from Andamans and then drive back to Bangalore.

What is the best option for me to park my car in Chennai for a week?

Why not the airport itself? I am sure it will have long term parking. Found this in another thread, check the last post of this page. You can also call the airport.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...irports-4.html

[raghu.t.k]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

I am planning for trip to Andamans in April end.
...
What is the best option for me to park my car in Chennai for a week?

The safest option would be to leave it in a friend/colleague / relatives house preferably between Koyambedu and Alandur, and then take the metro to airport. Other nearby places like adyar - Chrompet should be ok, but the transportation would need to arranged. The other option would be to use parking lots where private cars park overnight. I have seen one near amba skywalk but don't have any details. There should be something around CMBT as well. Anyone near that area can help. The CMBT bus-stand has a decent parking lot, and might help. I am not sure how safe it is though.

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

I am not a veteran Chennaite, but it holds fond memories for me, having stayed there for 5 years (2000-2005).

Back then, the road leading from Ashok Nagar to Vadapalani used to have plenty of parking, and very few no parking zones. Ditto for the road going to Kathipara junction via Kasi Theatre/Jafferkhanpet.

Don't know what the situation is now, though.

Cheers,
Vikram

Sadly the entire stretch between GST up-to Thirumangalam (more or less the entire 100 ft road) is congested during peak hours. You just need to check the traffic on google maps in the morning and evenings to see how bad it is.

That said, there could be space in the adjacent street/lanes. But any parking in a public space/ on a road or street, beyond a day is unsafe to say the least.

Originally Posted by arvind71181

Why not the airport itself? I am sure it will have long term parking. ....

The parking fees in the airport is very high, and I dont think they have a separate long term parking space like Hyd airport.

[BenjiRoss]

I need to visit the Madras University for half a day tomorrow and am looking to find secure parking for this duration. What are the options I have? This is on Marina beach.

[swiftdiesel]

Originally Posted by BenjiRoss

I need to visit the Madras University for half a day tomorrow and am looking to find secure parking for this duration. What are the options I have? This is on Marina beach.

The university has ample parking inside the campus. Enter the uni from the beach road and it will lead you to the dedicated parking lot.