The Luxembourg City municipal council was present for the inauguration of the new look of the Fort Neipperg car park, which had undergone a much-needed facelift after 35 years of operation. The work mainly concerned updating the car park to sanitise it, fulfilling the latest criteria and requirements.
Over the course of 20 months, the entire car park was rebuilt from scratch. Now the car park is stabler, safer, friendlier, and more comfortable, according to mayor Lydie Polfer. The increase in comfort is reflected in wider parking spots, which are 20 cm wider at 2.50 metres. Polfer also explained that the renovation allowed authorities to respond to new needs, such as spaces for bikes, for women, for disabled people, and for electric vehicles. Finally, the car park was renovated in an eco-friendly manner, and has solar panels on its roof.
The drawback of making things more comfortable means the car park has had sacrifices made elsewhere. The earlier version of the Neipperg car park had 800 parking spots, a figure which has been reduced to 677. The car park is spread over 19 floors, six of which are underground.
As the mayor explained, this is the first of the older car parks in the capital to be renovated. The renovation has made all the walls lighter and colour-coordinated floors to allow motorists to remember where they parked. Additionally, safety requirements, such as accessibility issues and fire sprinklers, have been fulfilled.
That the car park opened after 20 months of work means the renovation finished according to the outlined schedule. The renovation has retained the two entrances on Rue du Fort Neipperg, but has also added access via the back of the building, to allow better connections to Bonnevoie and the train station.
In theory, the Theatre car park was due to be the next car park to be renovated. However, the fire in the underground Rousegäertchen car park on Place des Martyrs has made renovating that car park a priority, albeit only once the investigation into the cause of the fire has been completed.
