NEW vehicle number plate recognition technology to help simplify parking is due to come into effect at one of the city centre’s biggest multi-storey car parks next week.
The Haymarket car park has been undergoing a £1.78m package of improvements to make it safer, cleaner and easier for motorists to use.
So far that work has already included extensively repairing and revamping the ageing building, including re-laying large the whole of the top floor outdoor deck and installing a weatherproof covering, drainage improvements, and structural repairs to the concrete and brickwork.
Modern payment machines, better lighting, new electrics and improved CCTV have also been installed to make the car park safer and faster for customers to use, along with new rooftop pedestrian walkways, new larger bays, new line markings and better signage to make it easier for customers to find their way around.
From Monday, October 5, automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and a barrier system will also come into use, which automatically registers the number plate of a vehicle, and calculates the fee to be paid. The new system replaces the previous Pay and Display process by paying upon exit.
In addition the new car parking system means customers can use Autopay – by registering in advance, the car parking fee can then be paid directly from their bank account without having to pay manually at a kiosk.
The programme of car park work is being carried out as part of Leicester City Council’s parking improvement plan to upgrade car parks across the city as well as taking into account the wider redevelopments in the area.
Leicester City Mayor Peter Soulsby said: “This investment on improving Haymarket Car Park have helped bring this valuable city centre car park up to modern standards, as well as making it safer and easier for customers to use.
“It is part of a wider programme of improvements being carried out at car parks across the city, to ensure that high quality, convenient parking is available where and when it is needed.”
Alongside the Haymarket Car Park improvements, two new lifts have been built and installed to improve disabled access to the car park and improve connections to the adjoining Haymarket Shopping Centre, the theatre and Travelodge hotel development at Haymarket House.
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