By Ng Wan Ching

THE free parking enjoyed by visitors at the MacRitchie Reservoir multi-storey carpark will soon come to an end.

This is to prevent possible abuse, which may leave visitors to the reservoir short of parking space, said Mr Tan Nguan Sen, PUB's Director of Catchment and Waterways.

Early morning joggers have on some occasions been unable to find space for their cars in the 300-lot carpark.

"To prevent abuse, charged parking will be implemented soon to better manage demand and discourage non-park users from occupying lots meant for visitors of MacRitchie Reservoir," said Mr Tan.

Staff of nearby Mount Alvernia Hospital have also been parking at the multi-storey carpark.

And there is even a complimentary shuttle bus for them, which travels between the hospital and the MacRitchie Reservoir carpark.

The carpark, which was initially meant to be free, is one of several joint efforts by PUB and NParks to encourage more Singaporeans to enjoy Singapore's reservoirs and parks.

It was built as part of the makeover of MacRitchie Reservoir under PUB's Active, Beautiful, Clean Waters programme.

The new carpark has 300 lots, 110 more than the previous three carparks combined, allowing more space to be opened up for park visitors.

A spokesman for Mount Alvernia Hospital said they have been monitoring the situation.

She added that hospital staff take up only a small proportion of the lots available at the MacRitchie carpark.

"It's about 30 to 35 cars on weekdays and 10 to 15 on Saturdays (half day)," said the spokesman.

Some of the staff still park their cars at the hospital. But the hospital grounds are able to accommodate all the staff cars only on Sundays.

Construction of additional car park facilities at the hospital will be completed in two to three years' time.

"It is definitely not our intention to cause any inconvenience to anyone, whether patient, visitor or any member of the public," said the spokesman.

The hospital's carpark can get busy during peak hours. Construction work in the hospital has further affected the availability of parking spaces.

Public transport

"To alleviate the situation, during this interim period, we have appealed to staff to switch to public transport," said the spokesman.

The hospital management also requested those who still drive to work to park their cars at the nearest public carpark.

"MacRitchie's multi-storey car park is nearest to us. To show our appreciation to our staff, we have provided them with a shuttle bus service that operates during specific times of the day.

"We apologise for any inconvenience caused to anyone by this arrangement and are prepared to seek alternative parking facilities should it present inconvenience to users of MacRitchie," said the spokesman.

This article was first published in The New Paper.