City Hall Contemplates Underground Car Parks
Published: September 28, 2011 (Issue # 1676)
City Hall is considering the construction of automated underground parking lots.
According to a plan developed by the city’s Transport Infrastructure Committee, officials hope to solve the lack of parking space in the city center through the construction of underground parking lots, Fontanka reported.
The parking facilities may be located as deep as 33 meters below ground, but are projected to be only 16 meters wide.
Preliminary calculations, which assume a 13-level structure that can accommodate ten cars per level, foresee the new underground parking facilities holding up to 130 cars each.
The project concept envisages that car owners would be able to leave their cars in a special elevator on the upper level of the new lots. After that, the automated system would carry the car down to the appropriate level and leave it there. When the owner returns, the system would return the car to the surface.
In this way, the project’s creators hope to provide relatively spacious parking lots compared to those located at ground level and to single-level underground spots that hold fewer vehicles.
Plans call for 10-15 such automated parking lots to be constructed under squares and alleys in the center of the city. Possible sites include under Ploshchad Rastrelli near the city’s administration building; in front of the Mariinsky Palace where the Legislative Assembly is located, at Birzhevaya Ploshchad on Vasilyevsky Island, Senatskaya Ploshchad between St. Isaac’s Cathedral and the Neva, beneath Arts Square in front of the Russian Museum, in front of the Astoria hotel, and in other places.
For the time being, the plans are only at the preliminary stages, with no working version yet available. As a result, both the exact figures and locations are subject to change, Fontanka reported. However, fears about the expense and possible negative impact that such construction projects may have on the historic center, where subsidence is a very real concern, look certain to play a role in their future development.