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Work begins on construction of £3.1m Co Armagh Park and Ride scheme

Work is expected to take 12 months to complete

Work has begun on a new 347-space Park and Ride facility near Portadown Train Station.

The £3.1m investment from Translink was approved back in September.

The site will be situated close to the former Denny’s factory site between Obins Street, Corcrain Road and the Northway in the town.

Main contractor Gibson Bros  from Banbridge have started their work and are expected to complete the work within 12 months.

The development is expected that the move will go a long way to alleviating the current parking problems in the town.

Portadown is the fifth busiest train station on the Northern Ireland Rail network with a passenger numbers in excess of one million a year.

Read more: Appeal for witnesses after car is set on fire in Co Armagh housing estate

Additionally, the construction and its subsequent operation will deliver a significant amount of jobs for the area.

It has also been highlighted in a report brought before councillors that “the facility will bring back into use a currently vacant and unused area of land which is currently in poor physical and visual condition”.

It will be a well-lit, secure and remotely CCTV monitored facility which will be available for use 24 hours a day.

The accesses will be well lit and the use of open mesh fencing on the site boundaries will allow for overviewing preventing the space from becoming anti-social gathering point.

The entrance areas will also have pedestrian and vehicular gates which will ensure that the facility can be securely closed off, if necessary.

The report also stated that “the proposal will offer a secure, well lit facility that will deter crime and anti-social behaviour”.

The development will be comprised of a surface-level car park providing a total of 347 parking spaces, including five E-car charging spaces.

Disabled Car parking spaces are allocated at Portadown Train Station.

There will also be a 30-bike cycle storage shelter measuring as well as an equipment storage building.

The facility will be closed monitored by 13 CCTV cameras and access to the car park will be via the Corcrain Road.

A new three metre wide shared cyclepath/footway will be constructed along the northern boundary of the site and will provide access to Corcrain Road (at one end) and Obins Street (at the other end).

The existing pedestrian access to Curran Street will be permanently closed.

Read more: Young Armagh man diagnosed with leukaemia has stem cells donated by brother

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