Gwanak-gu opens 95 free parking spaces on idle public garage land

Gwanak-gu in Seoul announced Friday it will open 95 free temporary public parking spaces on idle land at the Sillim No. 2 and No. 3 public bus garages to ease the district's chronic parking shortage. The district said it secured the spaces by using surplus areas within the existing garages rather than purchasing additional land.

The lots were created on portions of the Sillim No. 2 public garage (241-4 Daehak-dong) and the Sillim No. 3 public garage (131-6 and eight other parcels in Seorim-dong), both of which had spare space after their operations were consolidated into the Sillim No. 1 garage. The Daehak-dong lot covers about 1,300 square meters — excluding maintenance facilities — and offers 51 spaces, while the Seorim-dong lot covers about 1,500 square meters — excluding a compressed natural gas (CNG) charging facility — and offers 44 spaces.

The Daehak-dong lot is already in operation and will run through June next year; the Seorim-dong lot opens Saturday and will remain open through December next year. Both lots are free for vehicles no taller than 2.3 meters. However, freight trucks over 1.5 tons, buses, vans with 16 or more seats, and construction machinery are not permitted.

A district official urged drivers to follow the rules, noting that each parking session is limited to 24 hours and that double parking or any behavior that obstructs other vehicles is prohibited.

Gwanak-gu District Mayor Park Jun-hee said the district would continue to manage the lots to ensure residents can use them safely and conveniently, and would keep working to secure additional parking suited to local conditions.

In addition, the district is running a shared parking program that opens idle spaces in private facilities such as apartment complexes and churches to residents. It plans to expand the shared parking pool to more than 550 spaces by the end of this year.