New Park Street car park in Cambridge finally opens after weeks of delay
The new Park Street car park is finally opening today after weeks of delays caused by ventilation problems (Tuesday November 26) .
Cambridge City Council will open the underground car and cycle park at 1pm following the closure in 2022 of the former Park Street car park to enable major redevelopment on the site, which includes an aparthotel due to open in spring 2025.
Business owners in the area had complained that the closure impacted their businesses and expressed their disappointment when the planned opening two weeks ago was set back by a fortnight.
Cllr Simon Smith, executive councillor for finance and resources at the city council, said: “It is regrettable that we were not able to open a fortnight ago as originally planned, and we share people's disappointment in the delay, but I’m grateful to the team who have been working around the clock to complete the final elements of work as quickly as possible, enabling us to open this week.
““The opening of Park Street represents a real milestone for the council. We took the decision to invest in this project because the previous car park was aging, and 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. I wish to thank residents and neighbouring businesses for their patience and understanding during the construction works; this is an important renovation for well-used facilities in the city centre.”
The new site has 223 underground car parking spaces including 23 active EV charging spaces, and 200 passive EV charging spaces (set up with the cables and power supply necessary to enable sockets to be added easily as need increases). There is also secure parking for 239 bicycles, 10 oversized bicycles, and 20 motorcycles, with the design of the space developed in collaboration with Camcycle. There are 16 blue badge parking spaces, two of which are EV charging spaces
There is also a new landscaped central courtyard linking Park and Bridge Streets. The apart hotel, which will open next year, will be operated by Staycity as part of its Wilde brand portfolio. The council hopes it will be granted which will target BREEAM Excellent status because of its use of air source heat pumps and recycled rainwater.
