The Stari Grad municipality in Belgrade is rolling out new, colorful, and utterly confusing parking zones! Purple, red, and white zones – sounds like a rainbow maze, not a place to park your car. The Traffic Secretariat decided that starting July 14, these zones will have different time limits and rules, all based on residents’ initiatives. But did anyone ask the drivers?
Imagine this: the purple zone is expanded and now covers part of the former red zone, with a maximum parking time of just 30 minutes! Yes, you read that right – half an hour! And if you think that’s it, the red zone now has a 60-minute limit, with an option to extend by another 30 minutes. The new white zone covers part of the former green zone and allows parking for up to 1 hour, with an option to extend by another hour.
And all this is paid parking every working day, Saturdays from 7 AM to 10 PM, and Sundays from 7 AM to 2 PM. Weekends? Yes, even weekends! Forget about free Sunday parking because now it’s under control.
Where to park if you’re just visiting downtown? The Secretariat kindly suggests using public transport or city garages, which have about 3,000 parking spots spread across locations like Obilićev Venac, Pionirski Park, Zeleni Venac, and others. But is that enough?
These new rules are supposedly part of a broader sustainable urban mobility strategy aimed at encouraging public transport, cycling, and walking. But while city planners play with zones, drivers are left wondering – who actually designed this chaos?
Is this just another way to force citizens to leave their cars at home or a bureaucratic trick to fill city coffers? And while you struggle to understand where and how long you can park, city officials proudly claim that residents’ parking conditions remain unchanged. But what about everyone else?
If you thought parking in Belgrade was already complicated, brace yourself for a new round of frustration. Purple, red, white – sounds like a colorful hell for drivers. So, dear readers, what do you think about these new zones? A step towards a better city or just another reason to get annoyed? Drop your stories, jokes, or survival tips in the comments – let’s see who really wins this parking game!
