The long-awaited car park underneath the Quai des Etats Unis in Nice has been inaugurated. The new facility was created to replace the former car park that was demolished to make way for the Promenade du Paillon.
The project started in September 2011 and cost the city over 15 million euros. But the new parking area is a necessary replacement to the ‘bus station’s’ car park, which was demolished as part of the Promenade du Paillon’s construction, which started in 2010.
This new car park is another step in the right direction in the city’s fight against the lack of parking space. A study done last year estimated that about half of the traffic inside Nice everyday was due to motorists looking for a place to park their vehicles.
In an effort to please residents’ and visitors’ sense of aesthetics, a new garden was built on the surface area above the car park. Covering nearly 2,000 square metres, the new green area features 3,500 plants and 36 palm trees.
The south lane on the Quai des Etats Unis had to be closed to accommodate for the new car park. As a result, traffic was redirected to the north lane, which is being rearranged for two-way traffic. Construction should be finished by the end of January 2014.
Meanwhile, the city is also implementing a smart parking system where motorists will be guided to free parking spaces by their smartphone’s GPS system. Currently operational in the Notre Dame neighborhood since March, the system should be up and running in the whole downtown area by the end of 2015.
Source/Credit: Stan Aron for The Riviera Times
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Good to know, just in case I get a car one of these days (the last one I had was in 1966!)
It will certainly be beneficial to visitors next summer!