Foothills hospital parkade on track to open earlier than expected

The long-awaited new parkade at the Foothills hospital is set to open ahead of schedule, in the fall of 2018.

Construction of the four-level centre lot facility originally slated to open in the spring of 2019 has caused frustration for patients and visitors, who often struggle to find parking.

"We certainly recognize that the construction's caused a lot of inconvenience for patients, visitors, staff and physicians alike, and we're extremely grateful for their patience," said Michael Suddes, site director for the Foothills Medical Centre.

"What this really means for patients is they'll have a better choice of parking which is closer to their destination."

When construction is complete, the centre lot will contain2,000 parking stalls, replacing the 1,200 in the old lot and another 800 lost due to the cancer centre construction.

Suddes says patients can continue to park under the McCaig Tower and in a lot next to the Health Sciences Centre.

According to Suddes, AHS worked to improve its communications about where parking is available and to rein in the timelineswithout altering parkade's design.

"There's no change to the construction itself. The lot will look the same and be the same," he said.

"Our AHS team has been working really hard and really closely with the construction team just to make sure we squeeze out as much efficiency with the timelines as possible.... We have been able to move a little bit quicker than we anticipated."

Relief in sight for patients and visitors

Joanne Kirk, whorecently parked near McMahon stadium and walked with her husband to visit a family member at Foothills hospital, knows thefrustration of trying to find parking.

"We've come here before where we've had appointments and my husband just drives around because there's no parking," said Kirk, who is pleased to hear the new parkade will open earlier than expected.

"It'll be good to have more parking."

Liz Mottadecided to show up an hour early for her CT scan so she couldpark down the hill from the hospital,off 29th Street N.W., in a residential area.

"It's very, very hard. I just drove around just to see where I was going two months ago ... and you've got to follow directions. It's very difficult."

She's relievedthe parkade will open a few months ahead of schedule.

"That's a positive note. They're making more progress than what they anticipated. So that's good. I'm hoping before the winter the people will be able to access this a lot easier than what they're doing right now," she said.

Parking fees unchanged

Both Kirk and Motta, like other patients and visitors, have been wondering whether there will be any fee hikes when thenew parkade opens, but, according to AHS,no parking rate increases are planned.

The rate will remain the same at $14.25 per day.

Suddes saysthe final bill for construction is expected to be roughly $68 million, above the original $60-million estimate but within the "envelope" of funding allotted for the project.

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