Parking around Waterford City center during the festive period will not be an issue, organizers of Winterval have assured.
Winterval is regarded as Ireland’s best Christmas festival, and sees visitors from different parts of the country descend on Ireland's oldest town.
A query was brought up during the recent Plenary Council meeting, where Labour Councillor, Seamus Ryan, asked about the parking situation, Waterford News & Star reports.
Locations for the Winterval has replaced parking spots with areas for events, such as the ice rink and the Port of Waterford Eye.
Cllr Ryan also asked, in the interest of attracting visitors from other counties, if there would be any changes made to the cost of parking within Waterford City.
“There will be quite an additional number of vehicles coming into the city, hopefully. We need to provide additional parking in another area for them. And also, regarding the cost of parking, I do think over the period, we should provide a reduced cost of parking to try and maximize people coming into the city and bring them in from other areas – from Kilkenny, Wexford, South Tipperary… I think it’s something we should try and do,” Cllr Ryan was quoted as saying per Waterford News & Star.
In his response to Cllr Ryan, Event Liaison Officer with Waterford City and County Council, Finn Brophy said that approximately 200 spaces from the city have been occupied for other uses and will not be available to the public over the six-week period of the festival.
However, organisers have put temporary measures in place to alleviate the pressures that the reduced parking spaces may create among road users and have confirmed that other sites are available for parking.
One of the sites is Waterford Regional Sport Centre (RSC), which Mr Brophy said will be used as a “park and ride facility”.
4,000 parking spaces across these locations:
Name Spaces Cost Per Hour Cost per day
Miller’s Marsh Car Park 160 €1.00 €3.60
Bolton Street Car Park 130 €1.00 –
Waterside Car Park 340 €1.00 €3.60
Jenkin’s Lane Car Park 30 €1.80 –
Ballybricken 100 €1.80 –
The Glen 31 €1.80 –
RSC 300 free –
On Street 500 €1.80 –
Tesco Poleberry 330 €1.00
Railway Square Car Park 200 € 1.20
Clock Tower Car Park 100 € 2.40
City Square Car Park 490 €2.20
Thomas Hill Car Park 80 €2.25
The Glen Multistorey Car Park 225 €1.40
Hypercentre Shopping Centre 210 € 1.20
Merchants Quay Car Park 200 €2.20
Clyde Wharf Car Park 195 €2.20
Exchange Street 54 €2.30
Newtown Road Parking 50 €2.30
Old Brooks Site Car Park 275 –
Total - 4000
