City councils are being asked to approve plans to expand Saltburn’s Cat Nab car park, which could cost over £ 12,000 for each new space.
The plans, which were included in a parking strategy released by Redcar and Cleveland Council last year, would create an additional 34 parking spaces, including ten bays for disabled drivers.
Officials recommend that the extension of the oceanfront parking lot, located at the intersection of Saltburn Road and Saltburn Bank, be approved by members of the local authority’s regulatory committee.
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The Council’s Cabinet previously approved a $ 1 million investment.
The cost of the Cat Nab expansion was previously estimated at £ 415,000, which led former Council President Sue Jeffrey to question whether the space provided was good value for money, despite the program being overhauled since then also includes new lighting.
When the matter came up in the Audit Committee last year, Andrew Carter, associate director of growth and enterprise for the council said, “Unfortunately, developing parking spaces in locations with restrictions costs so much.
“We are basically building a new car park at Cat Nab in terms of the capacity required to achieve the desired capacity increase.”
A report said: “Current demand for parking in the Lower Foreshore area, where the Cat Nab parking lot is located, results in significant traffic jams across the city during the peak tourist season, especially summer.
“By increasing capacity in the Lower Foreshore area, the proposal would reduce some of this congestion which, when combined with the broader planned improvement program across the city, including reducing speed limits and directional signs, would help traffic flow and better distribute visitor parking in the whole city.”
The council says there have been requests for many years from the local community, residents and businesses in the city to increase parking spaces due to overcrowding at peak times.
Separately, up to 123 new parking spaces and six new disabled bays have been proposed for the east side of the Marine Parade in Saltburn, although this concept has not yet been implemented.
The Council previously stated its intention that “any revenue from car parking beyond the cost of providing the service will be reinvested in order to make improvements”.
It has hired knowledgeable advisors to help change the availability of parking in the city.
The Local Democracy Reporting Service announced in November that the city council had signed a £ 50,000 contract with Capita Property and Infrastructure to conduct a feasibility study that would include collecting and analyzing traffic data and creating a city-wide “master plan”.
Road safety audits will also take place during the contract period until April.
Saltburn is one of Redcar and Cleveland’s busiest tourist destinations, with an estimated more than 1.3 million visitors to its beach alone between July and October 2020.
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