SOME 3,000 on-street car parking spaces in Limerick city centre will be free from 3pm every day from Monday, November 24 until January 4, Limerick City and County Council announced today.
On-street parking charges will also be suspended from 3pm each day in Newcastle West, Abbeyfeale and Kilmallock on the same dates.
The council unveiled a number of other Christmas parking initiatives today, including overnight deals in off-street car parks, €1 an hour on-street parking, and all-day parking for €4 in all Q Park carparks for shoppers who prebook online or over the phone .
Limerick City and County Council consulted with a working group set up to discuss Christmas parking initiatives in the city centre, which included nominated councillors, the Mayor and a representative group from Limerick City Business Association.
Mayor Michael Sheahan said he hopes the parking promotion will encourage and attract families into the city centre “to enjoy the vibrancy, quality of retailing and entertainment offering this Christmas”.
“We’re specifically doing the ‘Free from Three’ promotion to encourage greater footfall into the city centre in the afternoons and early evenings, which will be a hive of activity with free festive events, traditional food and craft markets, an impressive display of Christmas lights and an exciting entertainment line up,” he said.
Rory McDermott, Limerick City and County Council Traffic Department, said there is an inaccurate perception in Limerick city centre that parking is too expensive, unavailable or over-enforced.
“There are 8,500 car park spaces in Limerick city centre. These consist of 3,000 on-street spaces, of which 1,000 are in the core business district and 5,500 off-street spaces, which are privately operated. The cost of on-street car parking in Limerick city centre is one of the cheapest in the country at €1 per hour,” he explained.
“Our role is to operate a parking management policy across Limerick where there is 100,000 daily vehicle trips across the city road network. We want to accommodate on-street demand as efficiently as possible by sharing the number of spaces available amongst shoppers, visitors and residents. At the end of the day, our message is that parking in Limerick city is good value, there is good choice and there is plenty availability for those wishing to come in and enjoy the city centre at Christmas time.”
Limerick’s Christmas Lights will be switched on the day before the parking promotions start on Sunday, November 23.
