297-space gain with estimated cost of €12.7m

Chosen site: The Lower Beech Road car park

The lower car park on Beech Road, off New Street, has been chosen as the preferred site for a new multi-storey parking facility in Killarney, it has emerged.

A proposal for a three storey 516-space development was outlined this Tuesday afternoon when councillors attended a presentation by local authority engineers on the various options available.

The chosen location is on the tourist office and bottle bank side of the car park, which currently has 319 parking spaces in addition to a further 120 spaces on the upper end, near Killarney Credit Union.

The net gain will be 297 spaces, which includes maximising the roof space.

The cost of the development is estimated at €12.7 million.

A complete financial analysis still has to be undertaken and funding streams will have to be explored. A detailed business case, including a car parking strategy, also needs to be prepared.

Senior engineer David Doyle outlined all of the options to councillors at this afternoon’s meeting with an assessment of both Beech Road car parks, the Lewis Road, Rock Road, High Street, Fair Hill, Glebe and cathedral sites all considered and costed.

Mr Doyle said the engineering assessment ranked all the possible options with Lower Beech Road getting a score of 25, Lewis Road 24, High Street 22, the Glebe, Upper Beech Road, Fair Hill and Rock Road all scoring 21 and St Mary’s Cathedral 20.

Following consultations with the conservation officer, the cathedral car park was not deemed suitable given its proximity to building of archaeological and historical importance.

To build a multi-storey car park on Lewis Road, on a site earmarked for a new primary care centre and community theatre, would cost an estimated €8 million for a four-storey 261-space development.

The parking spaces currently available in the town’s car parks,which total 1,338, are: