Parking on Camino Centenario near Lacroze / El Dia
Many people from La Plata who travel to the federal capital every day are forced to look for alternatives to save and avoid delays or setbacks due to the high cost of transportation and the lack of parking spaces. This phenomenon changed the urban postcard with the conversion of squares into “street parking” and a greater combination of different means of mobility.
Regardless of whether you travel by car, train or bus, one of the main obstacles is the lack of parking spaces, especially for residents who live far from the train station or bus stop and have to decide where to leave their vehicle.
This situation led to the emergence of “informal parking lots” in various parts of the region. Many drivers leave their cars there to continue their journey with another means of transport or, more often, to carpool with friends or colleagues.
In the cities of the northern zone this phenomenon is most visible and its presence is increasing over the years.
In Villa Elisa, at the entrance to the Buenos Aires-La Plata highway – on 415th Street (former Provincial Road 19) – at 7 a.m. you can already see dozens of vehicles parked on the side of the road.
As this newspaper learned, these are residents of different locations who travel daily to the city of Buenos Aires for work or study and coordinate with friends, colleagues or acquaintances to use a single vehicle and share the costs.
Alexa Villanueva is a dentist who lives in City Bell and works in Lomas de Zamora. On Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays he parks his car at this location and drives together with his colleagues. “We do it because it is more convenient for us, but above all it is a way to reduce travel costs, which are very high. The economy is not good for anyone and there are always additional costs,” he told this newspaper as they finished getting their things out of the car.
In her case, she switched to this modality four years ago when she graduated as a dentist. “Sometimes we leave it at the roundabout that leads to La Plata on the highway,” he indicated, referring to Rambla 120 and 33, an area also used as a parking lot for those who work in CABA.
Around 7:30 a.m. the scene repeats itself every day: a man arrived with his truck, parked it there, and a few seconds later his companions arrived; He got into the other vehicle and they drove off.
Antonella comes from La Plata and while waiting for her colleagues on the side of the road, she told this newspaper: “It’s the first time I’m leaving the vehicle here. I’m going to Tigre for the end-of-year party of the company where I work and my colleagues are picking me up, so we’re going in a car. My partner told me I could leave it in this place because more people were doing the same thing and we used it as a meeting point.”
meters from the bus
The same postcard is repeated in Gonnet, in the area of Camino Centenario and Lacroze (Calle 419). More than a dozen cars had been parked on the side of the road at this spot since the early hours of the morning.
“These are people who work in the federal capital and park their vehicles here to catch the bus at the stop in front,” an employee of a nearby veterinarian, who has been working in the area for four years, told this newspaper.
The phenomenon of informal parking is not limited to highway entrances. The electrification of the Roca train and the low cost of its ticket have also changed the dynamics of the neighborhoods around the intermediate stations.
At City Bell, train users park in the lot next to the station on 12th Street. The development of a transfer station was even proposed there in 2012.
In Gonnet, they occupy the tree-lined boulevard of 13th Street, forming long lines of cars. In both cases, the goal is to leave the car in a free space to continue the journey by train or bus. This newspaper reported weeks ago about the same situation in Villa Elisa, which led to a conflict: the cars were partly parked in the private parking lot of a residential building next to the train station. At the same time, traders in the surrounding streets are protesting against the occupation of these sectors.
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