Work to create a new park and ride car park in Helensburgh will start on Monday.
The car park will be built on the former gasometer site in Grant Street, and will have a total of 53 spaces.
Funded by Strathclyde Partnership for Transport (SPT), spaces in the car park will be pay and display, with the cost of parking used as a discount against a rail ticket at Helensburgh Central station.
The facility was first proposed in 2014, and last year Argyll and Bute Council said SPT would pay provide £300,000 of funding.
The council’s policy lead for economic development Aileen Morton said: “The creation of a park and ride facility right across from Helensburgh Central should be a help for those who need or want to travel by train.
“Using public transport helps reduce our carbon footprint and can also save on travel time and the costs associated with taking a car, such as fuel and vehicle maintenance.
“I look forward to seeing work progressing in the weeks ahead.
“Along with the footpath improvements that will be taking place on East Princes Street at the same time, this should substantially improve the appearance of the lower east of the town centre which has been impacted by first the gasometer and then by a gap site.”
The council says that as a result of the work, and for safety reasons, the staff car park for the Helensburgh and Lomond Civic Centre will be closed for three weeks, starting on February 5.
A reduced number of spaces will then be available until the work has finished – the new car park is due to be completed by the start of the summer.
Unless I’m mistaken,this is a missed opportunity. The new car park should be amalgamated with the civic centre one. The whole area should have a second floor accessed off Clyde St and this would go a considerable way to easing the day long parking problem we have in the town.
If you go to the junction of Colquhoun and Argyll Streets it is congested and dangerous every weekday with commuter parking. Time to reconsider.
No EV charging points? Given how often the charger in the pier car park is occupied there is clearly a need and installing them while the car park is being built makes more sense than fitting them afterward.