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28 March 2024

Dh5 for car parking at new souk in Abu Dhabi

People visiting the new souk in Abu Dhabi’s town centre will have to pay Dh5 per hour to park their cars. (SUPPLIED)

Published
By Staff

Motorists visiting the new souk in Abu Dhabi’s town centre will have to pay Dh5 per hour to park their cars when the market is launched within the next weeks.

The fee is more than double the charges paid by drivers in most other parking places in the capital and it could prompt shoppers to park their vehicles in cheaper areas surrounding the landmark souk.

The Department of Transport, which is carrying out a major car parking scheme in the capital, said drivers leaving their cars at assigned parking lots at the massive souk for a long time would have to pay Dh25 per four hours, Dh35 per five hours, and Dh45 per six hours.

“Drivers who want to stay longer will have to pay Dh15 for every extra hour after that period,” the department said.

According to the Arabic language daily Al Bayan, the parking lot at the souk would accommodate nearly 1,300 cars, which could fetch Dh6,500 per hour in case it is fully utilised.

“Some residents of the area have started to express fears that drivers could use cheaper parking spaces outside the souk area and this will create a severe parking crisis near their buildings,” it said.

Aldar real estate company, one of the largest property developers in the region, is constructing the sprawling souk in the heart of the city.

The market, spreading along Hamdan and Khalifa streets, the oldest and most famous streets in the capital, replaced the old souk that had been considered a hallmark of the city before giant malls started to invade its neighbourhoods.

Officials said the more than 1,000 shops in the souk had already been fully booked, mostly by Iranian, Indian and Pakistani dealers, who had dominated the old souk that emerged with the discovery of oil in the country.