KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Territories Minister has decided to limit the time for the public to park at Central Business District (CBD) areas to only two hours (metered on road parking) .

Its minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said this is to deter motorists from hogging parking spaces for long hours which would make it hard for others to use the facility.

“We also want to encourage people to take public transportation when they come into the city as well as encourage people to park at designated parking centres and walk.’’

“We also will increase the parking fee to RM2 for the first hour and RM3 for the second hour. Anyone who surpass the two hour limit will find your cars clamped or towed; in fact we won’t even summon,’’ Tengku Adnan told the media after launching the second Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim (Jalan Duta) tunnel here.

He added that the two hour ruling will start on July 18 and will focus on areas like Bukit Bintang, KLCC, Ampang and other areas in the city centre.

Tengku Adnan added his ministry are still studying on whether to implement it in Brickfields, but said that townships like Bangsar, Kepong, Hartamas will not be affected just yet.

He added Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will install more electronic boards to show the number of available parking bay inside complexes and commercial building.

Meanwhile, Tengku Adnan said he is happy that the second Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim (Jalan Duta) tunnel which connects to Lebuhraya Sultan Iskandar (Lebuhraya Mahameru) has been completed after only one year.

He said the tunnel would serve to ease the congestion along Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim which is due to the single exit over there.

“With this new tunnel and lane addition at the slip road from Lebuhraya Sultan Iskandar to Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim, we hope it could ease the traffic especially during peak hour,” Tengku Adnan told the reporters during the launch of the tunnel here.

The construction of the 420m tunnel started on June 18 last year and completed on June 19 this year.