Park and ride views wanted

Public to take part in survey

Commuters are being encouraged to give their opinions on a new park and ride strategy for South Lanarkshire.

The council have launched an online survey in a bid to obtain feedback on a draft strategy for all 19 railway stations in the authority area.

Councillors on the Community and Enterprise Resources committee approved an eight-week consultation in March.

As reported in the Advertiser, should plans get the green light, Larkhall would benefit from an additional 181 spaces, Uddingston 146 and Blantyre 12 through extensions of the current car parks.

An additional 67 spaces could be created at Hamilton West through an extension of the existing car park as well as a decked extension at the Peacock Way car park.

At Chatelherault, 103 spaces could come with the reconfiguration and extension of the current area, as well as the construction of a new surface car park.

Further marketing is to be considered to encourage the use of facilities at Duke Street and Brandon Street for Hamilton Central.

The railway stations are owned and managed by Network Rail and it is either they or the council who are responsible for car parking at all of the stations.

The number of spaces has increased from 607 in 1994 to 2425 in 2017. The council have identified a number of objectives for park and ride facilities in its Local Transport Strategy, including ensuring transport helps boost the local economy, reduces congestion, promotes accessibility and increases the number of journeys made by public transport.

A number of factors were also looked at in developing the draft strategy, including existing supply, future demand, demand against current provision, as well as the suitability and feasibility of all options.

Councillor John Anderson, chair of South Lanarkshire Council’s Community and Enterprise Committee, urged locals to complete the survey.

He said: “We would like as many people as possible to take part in this consultation.

“We want to hear from the people who are using the park and ride facilities as it is these day-to-day users who will have the most valuable feedback.

“Rail usage across South Lanarkshire continues to grow year on year and we have to do what we can to help as many people as possible use the network.

“Once the consultation period has ended, we will take all the comments on board and a finalised strategy will be submitted to the Community and Enterprise Committee for approval.”

To access the survey and full consultative draft document, go to https://bit.ly/2hrhpvv

Rail usage continues to grow year on year