TRANSPORT DEPOT PLANS PRESENTED

MABEL Cabrer, the Balearic minister of public works, transport and housing, and Catalina Cirer, the Mayor of Palma, yesterday presented the plans proposed for putting the railway station underground, including the remodelling of the Stations Park. The presentation was made to the opposition and neighbourhood assocations.
The project includes a giant transport depot beneath the Stations Park, which will have ten railway tracks, five platforms and 30 bays for long distance buses. Work is due to start in December and will take two years to complete.
There will be an underground carpark for 400 vehicles beneath the transport depot and the entire project has a budget of 89.6 million euros.
The park will see its area increased from 36'000 to 54'000 square metres and its remodelling - the second since it was opened in 1999 - will cost 2.7 million euros. Javier Rodriguez, the deputy mayor for planning, said that plans also include changes to the bridge linking the park with Calle Jacinto Verdaguer and the construction of a building, probably a civic centre, on the corner of Marques de la Fontsanta and Plaza España. The pedestrian boulevard planned for Calle Jacinto Verdaguer will not occupy the central area as originally planned, but will be relegated to the side and four lanes for traffic will be opened. Plans have met with considerable opposition, from the Son Forteza neighbourhood association, the socialists, who want it halted and the United Left-Greens, who want the trains to continue to reach Plaza España while work is in process, instead of stopping at the ring road.