Hospital car park expansion starts in Inverness
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CONSTRUCTION of more than 200 new parking bays at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness is under way.
The £620,000 project is designed to thwart motorists who use the free car park but do not go to the hospital.
For years, selfish motorists with no business at the hospital have used it as an alternative to paying for spaces in Inverness city centre or at the airport at the expense of patients and visitors.
It has caused anxiety among people who have missed appointments due to the lack of empty parking spaces.
Work is expected to be complete in November and will increase the car park’s capacity to 1500.
NHS Highland chief executive Iain Stewart said: “This will make an appreciable difference to NHS colleagues and visitors alike.
“The work will involve creating two overspill car parks on the Raigmore Hospital site along with the installation of barrier controls intended to prevent misuse of the spaces which has until now been a significant problem.
“In parallel with the work, an extensive awareness raising exercise will be undertaken.”
The project is being paid for by a grant from the NHS Highland Endowment Board and Kier Construction is carrying out the works.
Regional MSP Edward Mountain launched a campaign for improvements last year.
“I am absolutely delighted that they are starting work, it has been a long time coming,” he said.
“It has been a long-standing campaign of mine to get proper parking at Raigmore. Hopefully gone now are the days when people will have to leave an hour before their appointment just to find a car parking space, which is an absolutely ridiculous situation to face.
“And I will tell you those people who were using the car park for non-hospital business should really consider what they are doing and stop using it – it is just not good enough.”
Craig Dunain, an outpatient who has to make regular visits to Raigmore and has campaigned against those who abuse the free parking, was delighted work had started.
He had previously put posters in a nearby bus stop telling people it was not a park and ride for people working in Inverness.
He said: “I think it will be good for everybody, not just for me or other patients, and I look forward to the exodus of cars from the car park that shouldn’t be there in the first place.
“I’ve seen workers in the car park and they seem to be digging channels for the basic preparatory work and the basic infrastructure to run electricity for the barriers.”
