Question reference: S4O-04260
- Asked by: Ken Macintosh, MSP for Eastwood, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 22 April 2015
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 29 April 2015
Question
To ask the Scottish Government whether it has confidence in the transport, parking and access arrangements for the new South Glasgow Hospitals site.
Answer
When the hospital opens there will be approximately 2,500 spaces available, with a further 1,000 spaces available by 2016 on completion of a third multi storey car park. Currently, the parking capacity must not exceed 3,500 parking spaces, as a condition of planning approval. The new campus will have 200 more spaces than were provided at the hospitals that it replaces.
A planning application has been submitted to Glasgow City Council for the formation of a temporary car park. If successful, 600 spaces dedicated for staff will be developed on a site opposite Linthouse Road, adjacent to the site. This will ease pressures until the full 3,500 spaces are available in 2016.
A range of travel options are being promoted, including walking, cycling, car share, park and ride, and public transport. The new hospitals will be accessible by bus, with 68 peak hour buses serving the site from 11 May 2015, and the site is five minutes by bus from Govan Subway station. The Scottish Government is investing up to £40 million in the new Fastlink scheme which will offer direct transport from three main sites in the city centre, Buchanan Bus Station, Queen Street and Central Station, to the South Glasgow University Hospitals campus. Services will begin on the Fastlink route in early May 2015, providing buses between the city centre and the new hospitals approximately every five minutes at peak times and every 10 minutes off peak.