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Council hopes car park will enable greener travel

Dave Webster/BBC The Park Street car park. A man in an orange fluorescent outfit is stood outside the front of the entrance in a hard hat. A blue sign on the entrance and exit of the car park says, Welcome to Park Street Car Park in white letters.Dave Webster/BBC
The car park first closed in 2022 so it could be demolished ready for a five-storey hotel which is due to open next year

A council said it hoped people would shift to "greener travel" as an underground car park with 23 charging spaces for electrical vehicles was opened in a city centre.

Park Street car park in Cambridge welcomed its first visitors on Tuesday after closing in January 2022 for main project works and demolition.

The former building on the site was demolished to make way for a five-storey 229-room hotel, which is due to open next year.

Simon Smith, the executive councillor for finance and resources at Cambridge City Council, said: "The opening of Park Street represents a real milestone for the council."

The facility offers 223 underground car parking spaces, including 23 electrical vehicle (EV) charging spaces. It also has 200 spaces with cables and power supplies so sockets can be added for more charging facilities if the need increases.

The new spaces have been part of the council's wider commitment to installing 800 EV chargers in the city's car parks.

There is also secure parking for 239 bicycles, 10 oversized bicycles and 20 motorcycles.

Dave Webster/BBC Ling Yohoya in a cream off white coloured coat, he is looking at the camera and smiling and is giving the camera a thumbs up. He is stood next to a large grey car in a underground car park.Dave Webster/BBC
Ling Yohoya was able to mark his first trip to Cambridge by being the first person to park in the new car park

Ling Yohoya was the first person to park in the newly opened car park and was visiting the city from Malaysia.

He said: "This is actually my first visit to Cambridge... I feel honoured of having the privilege of being the first visitor to this car park."

The building's reopening suffered a "major delay" and was expected to reopen in August.

Cambridge City Council said there had been "unprecedented weather, changes to compliance and regulation requiring additional works, and supply chain issues".

It said the delay was caused by a "contractor's failure to install the power connection".

Jozef Hall/BBC A grey room with white painted walls has black bike racks lined up next to each other. On one window is a white symbol for a bicycle.Jozef Hall/BBC
While the car park has more than 200 spaces for cars, it has more spaces for bicycles

Smith said the council decided to invest in the project due to the former facility "ageing".

He said: "It offered us an opportunity to develop new facilities that will play an important part in supporting people shifting to greener travel options with the EV charging and the substantially improved facilities for secure cycle parking.

"The aparthotel will provide much needed income to support essential services for residents, as well as a boost for local businesses... this is an important renovation for well-used facilities in the city centre."

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