ĐÀ NẴNG — Downtown Đà Nẵng will host the city’s first public underground car park in 2018.

City authorities said the parking garage, a BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) project to be carried out over two years (2016-2018), will be built on a 4,000sq.m site at a cost of VNĐ195 billion (US$8.7 million).

It will have 309 parking spaces for cars and over 3,000 for motorbikes at the junction of Ông Ích Khiêm-Đống Đa and Trần Cao Vân streets.

The city will also upgrade these streets to facilitate day and night entry for cars.

The project, which includes three underground floors and a ground floor, will also have a green park, a rest area and several entertainment options for pedestrians.

In 2015, the city opened its first underground car park at the Administrative Centre on Trần Phú Street. The parking garage, which can accommodate 179 cars and 1,500 motorbikes, cost VNĐ150 billion ($6.7 million) to build.

Almost all big hotels in the city have their own underground parking garages, according to the city’s Construction Department.

A report prepared by the city’s traffic police says Đà Nẵng, which has a population of 900,000, has 69,000 cars, 800,000 motorbikes and over 5,000 battery-powered bikes, excluding cars and personal vehicles from localities that pass in and out everyday.

Đà Nẵng is also piloting an odd and even day car parking plan on some streets in the city to ease congestion. It also plans several underground projects in the coming years, including two road tunnels at busy roundabouts, and a tunnel under the Hàn River.

Last year, the city put into operation a three-level rail and road flyover at the Huế Junction.

In 2013, the World Bank agreed to provide $202 million for a $272 million sustainable development project to help build a Bus Rapid Transit network, new roads and revamp the existing drainage system.

HCM City

Meanwhile, the HCM City People’s Committee has approved construction of an underground parking lot at Sài Gòn Zoo and Botanical Gardens (Sài Gòn Zoo) in District 1 as part of the zoo’s adjusted zoning plan.

The parking lot will be located near the Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai-Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm intersection in District 1, under Sài Gòn Zoo’s restaurants, kid’s playgrounds, penguin cages and African animal areas. 

The one-hectare parking lot will accommodate 3,000 motorbikes and 100 cars. — VNS