Call for multi-storey car park above Denia station
‘Ideal solution’ for lack of parking spaces in the town, says councillor
A HIGH-RISE car park at Denia station could be the answer to the lack of spaces in the Marina Alta capital, says Compromís leader Rafa Carrió.
Governing in coalition with the Socialist party (PSOE) mayor Vicent Grimalt, Sr Carrió has revived an idea floated ahead of the 2019 local elections – building a multi-storey for up to 200 vehicles.
Suspended above the tracks and on pillars, the car park ‘could have up to five or six floors’, the councillor and electoral candidate says.
It is a solution that works well in other towns and cities where parking is a problem and land is scarce, Sr Carrió explains.
Also, it would cut the number of cars on the roads
and make Denia pedestrian-friendly. more
Parking problems worsen
Controversially, Denia council
shut the main Marqués de Campo boulevard to traffic last year, eliminating even more parking bays, whilst claiming that over 3,000 spaces were available in car parks within a 10-minute walk of the town centre.
But visitors and residents argue that many of these attract a fee – such as the port car parks, which used to be free of charge – and that not everyone can, or wants to, spend 10 minutes walking into town, especially in wet weather and intense summer heat.
These out-of-town car parks have ‘failed to resolve the lack of spaces in Denia’, Rafa Carrió says.
Yet a car park above the station would be just a minute or two on foot from the main hub.
Rival candidate Pepa Font, of the Partido Popular (PP) wants to use the land behind the Hotel Costa Blanca – currently an unofficial parking site – as a car park and second bus station.
But other parties want to see it landscaped to increase green areas in town, and claim it would be ‘tricky’ for coaches to access.