News / Transport
Only ‘stupid city’ invests in arena parking
There will be no increase in parking on the site of the 12,000-capacity arena, whatever the outcome of the recent consultation.
City mayor George Ferguson said it would be a “stupid city” that invests in a parking facility, adding that the only wriggle room the plans have are to improve access to existing parking and public transport links.
Plans for the £93 million venue have come under fire for including as few as 45 parking spaces on site, for disabled and operations use only.
The pre-planning consultation finished in the middle of October, with the final plans expected to be submitted in the next few weeks.
Ferguson told Bristol24/7: “I think it would be completely mad, completely mad, to put a mass of parking on the site. It would cause more problems than it would solve. Whilst I’m absolutely open and listening to all the issues, I’ve got to find the right solutions.”
He said the solutions would come in the form of better public transport and investment in technology that guides drivers to the car parks within walking distance.
“I take the concern about parking absolutely seriously but we have got to look to the future,” Ferguson said.
“By 2017 we will have a smarter way of moving around this city. We will have installed MetroBus, more park & ride, Bristol is Open smart systems will be working and we will have the internet of things where our car parks are all connected and information is available on online maps.”
He added: “It’s a smart city that invests in knowledge and technology dealing with issues rather than with big unnecessary infrastructure that will be redundant. It’s a stupid city that carries on the way it did before.”
The £93 million arena, which is due to open in early 2018, is part funded by the city council and part funded by the Local Enterprise Partnership and will form part of a £200 million transformation of Arena Island.
Read more about the full plans for Arena Island
Read our feature looking at whether the parking plan is as mad as it seems
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