Inspectors have been finding more & more cases of curbs being painted, apparently by drivers anxious to create a parking space for themselves.
By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY
Everyone knows that the parking problem in Tel Aviv is desperate, and it seems that some drivers are coming up with their own creative solutions, reports Yediot Tel Aviv. Since the beginning of the year, confused municipal inspectors have discovered 150 cases in which curbs they knew had been marked red and white to indicate that parking was prohibited, were suddenly - and illegally - painted blue and white to allow parking. Three such cases were found just last week in three different streets.
According to the report, inspectors have been finding more and more cases of curbs being painted overnight, apparently by drivers anxious to create a parking space for themselves. Several months ago, the city decided to hire a firm of private detectives to try to catch the culprits. One man was caught red-handed, and the city hoped he was the sole perpetrator and the phenomenon would end with his arrest. But it has only grown in recent months, and has been seen in streets all over the metropolis. Inspectors have also become aware of an opposite, less frequent phenomenon - residents repainting blue and white curbs red and white, to keep visiting cars from clogging up their streets and taking their parking spots.
A municipal spokesman said the city was planning to "go to war" against the pirate painters and would initiate legal action against anyone caught.