Multi-storey carpark at UHG will result in fewer spaces
Parking at Galway city’s main public hospital is already at a premium but the problem of a shortage of spaces will become even more chronic in the coming months.
A new multi-storey car park is currently being built at University Hospital Galway (UHG) on the site of the existing car park for staff but it will worsen rather than improve the situation.
The hospital has confirmed to the Galway City Tribune that once the new car park is open, and operational, there will be approximately 80 fewer car parking spaces for staff at UHG than at the old car park it is replacing on site at Newcastle.
Patient representatives and staff are said to be shocked to learn that the new car park that is currently under construction will make the parking situation even worse not better at UHG.
“It’s complete madness. There has always been a shortage of car parking spaces at UHG. So when they decided to build a new car park to replace the existing staff car park, everyone expected that the number of spaces available would increase because it is a multi-storey car park.
“But instead of increasing the number of spaces, the new car park, which is costing hundreds of thousands of euros to build, is going to have about 80 fewer spaces and is actually going to contribute further to the shortage of parking space at UHG,” a hospital source said.
A spokesperson for the hospital confirmed that multi-storey car-park is currently under construction and expected to be operational early 2016.
“There are 238 spaces in the two deck car park currently under construction – this is replacement car parking. Overall, there will be a net reduction in staff car parking of approximately 80 spaces,” he said.
The spokesperson indicated that, “in tandem with its commissioning, we plan to increase public car parking in two locations at the UHG site.”
However, the hospital did not elaborate where these locations are or how many additional car parking spaces they will create at these two locations.
In addition to the permanent reduction in car parking spaces at UHG, the hospital says there is a short-term reduction in staff parking at UHG due to other ongoing construction work.
The hospital added: “There has been a recent reduction in the number of staff parking spaces to enable preparatory works to take place for the new Adult Acute Mental Health Unit (AAMHU). Park and ride facilities are in place for staff with parking available on the Merlin Park site and in Dangan. A frequent bus service is in place to facilitate staff travelling to and from the UHG site from either location.”