Renovation complete at busy March car park

A well-used town centre car park has been given a new lease of life following a £250,000 renovation by Fenland District Council.

City Road car park and the adjacent lorry park in March have been extensively resurfaced, street lighting has been upgraded with new LED energy efficient luminaires, and entrances have been altered to improve pedestrian crossing points.

Overgrown shubbery in the area has also been cleared, landscaped areas improved with the planting of around 2,300 shrubs and six new trees, and new signage has been installed.

In the car park, drainage has also been improved, worn speed humps replaced and two additional car parking spaces have been created.

The work, funded by the Council’s Capital Works programme, has taken around eight weeks to complete with around half of the car parking spaces remaining available throughout the duration.

Councillor Peter Murphy, the portfolio holder responsible for car parks, said: “The last major investment in City Road car park was in the mid-1990s. It’s surfacing and lighting had reached the end of its useful life and required regular repair works to be undertaken.

“This work will not only reduce the burden of costly maintenance on the Council’s finances, but it has also put a breath of fresh air back into a well-used and busy town centre asset.”

The removal of overgrown shubbery and dead trees has also opened the area up, and combined with the new street lighting, has improved night-time visibility for CCTV surveillance.

 The Council has also introduced new improvements at Furrowfields car park in Chatteris to help tackle ‘boy racers’ causing anti-social behaviour. The work included a speed reducing ramp at the car park entrance to prevent vehicles entering and exiting at high

speeds, and raised kerbs between rows of parking bays to prevent vehicle drifting and racing. The council is also upgrading the street lighting in the car park to reduce dark spots and provide better vision for CCTV surveillance.