Eleven new free parking spaces in Foix! Behind the prison, work is underway to expand the Terrasses de l'Ariège car park

It is so well hidden that you don't think about parking there for free. And yet, the Terrasses car park, like that of the Gare or the Vigne, is one of the seven free parking sites in Foix.

It is true that you need to have a keen eye to spot it on Avenue du Général-de-Gaulle; a one-way street where the remand center was located. At this address, you can see a few parking spaces and a first sign indicating this famous Terrasses car park. You then have to go to the end of the alley alongside the prison, look for the blue “parking” sign to finally discover it.

This site, originally offering 54 places, is currently being redeveloped and expanded. At the bottom, the earthworks have started. The outlines of a few places can be distinguished.

Anticipate the future affluence of the city

Eleven parking spaces are created as an extension of existing spaces. The floor will be made of permeable slabs in order to minimize the risk of flooding. The plot which accommodates them belonged to the chamber of agriculture, located next to the prison. “The municipality had the opportunity to acquire the plot,” explains Guy Loszach, the works assistant.

This project is intended to be the consequence of the urban requalification program for the old center, initiated by the city. A program which rehabilitates old housing, creates new ones, and aims to “increase economic activities in the city center”, as the elected official emphasizes.

Also read:
Parking: “A nightmare”, “horror”… Why are the new parking spaces promised by the town hall slow to arrive

In short, this policy linked to town planning should encourage the movement of Fuxéans and surrounding residents, or even attract new people. And all the more so since the future multiplex cinema will be a formidable locomotive for the town, thanks to its installation in Champ-de-Mars what's more.

Without forgetting that parking spaces have also been eliminated by road improvements, such as on rue Delcassé or Delpech, recognizes the municipality.

A lack of space observed in 2019

Building on these projects, the city has noted that “the current offer is already saturated on market days. The question of accessibility, parking, and mobility in the old center is becoming a central problem, on which the success depends of most projects.

A study also confirmed this feeling in 2019, concluding that there was “a deficit of 80 places on market days, around 40 places on other days outside the summer period”. A deficit which, this study explained, would “increase in the years to come, with the development of central attractiveness”, and above all “the elimination of around 140 places”.

Also read:
Parking in the city center: the study that should make people react…

These eleven spaces will not rebalance these 140 lost parking spaces, but they will allow tourists or workers not to pay the parking meter. Because, this is good news, this parking lot is intended to remain free despite the construction costs. Just a few more weeks before motorists can benefit from it.