Cuttack, Jan. 30: Motorcycle and car owners will have to pay fees on an hourly basis for parking their vehicles at three prominent junctions from Nimchouri up to Choudhry Bazaar via Nayasarak in the city to streamline roadside parking.

An official of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation said Rs 15 would be charged per hour for four-wheelers and Rs 5 for the two-wheelers, as the civic body would implement the hourly parking system for the first time in the city from February.

The initiative aims to resolve the parking problem, which had been obstructing smooth traffic flow on the busy road.Sources said the corporation had completed the auction process and an agreement would shortly be signed as well as notification was to be issued for implementation of the hourly parking system.

'The hourly parking system will act as a deterrent for those, who park their vehicles on roadside for a long period of time. The system will enforce better road discipline and also resolve the congestion problems,' said civic body commissioner Gyana Das.

Das said a meeting with senior traffic officials would be held to fix the regulated time periods to ensure free parking provision for local residents. A civic body official said there were plans to make parking free for the residents either from 10pm to 9am, 10pm to 10am or from 11pm to 10am.

Hence, the free parking provision during the regulated time periods will play a crucial role in ensuring that the residents do not face problems in parking their vehicles at night.

'Despite being a major commercial centre, residential houses are also located at Nayasarak. We have no issues with the corporation's decision of implementing the hourly parking system as a lot of commuters are facing trouble due to traffic congestion on this road,' said local resident Sitaram Agarwal.

Though a one-side parking provision had been introduced at Nayasarak in 2011, the initiative yielded no result as vehicles, especially the four-wheelers, would be parked on both sides of the road round-the-clock.

Police had also introduced a one-way traffic zone for four-wheelers and three-wheelers from the Orissa High Court side to put a check on the congestion last year.

'Traffic congestion has been fixed to some extent following the one-way system. However, illegal parking, especially by the four-wheelers, on both sides of the road still remains a prime concern for the commuters on Nayasarak,' said Sanjay Das, a commuter.