NEWPORT'S long-awaited new car park is now scheduled to open this summer, say the council.
Earlier this year, we reported that cold weather had affected construction work and could delay completion until the Autumn.
But Kingsway Shopping Centre is now set to open the facility at the beginning of August.
It will have 1,050 spaces, including 30 for the disabled and parents of young children.
Located next to the library and Newport Centre, it will have direct access into the refurbished Kingsway Shopping Centre which.
It was hoped the car park would open in the Spring but freezing weather in January held up a process involving the casting of concrete as it could have caused structural problems.
The new car park will be open between 8am and midnight.
Forty spaces are available for annual permit holders.
It was built to replace one of Newport's most prominent eyesores - the previous Kingsway car park which was closed in 2002 after being declared unsafe.
It was finally demolished in 2006.
After the new car park opens, another unpopular car park, Capitol, will also close.
As well as serving Kingsway Shopping Centre, it was also intended to provide spaces for people using the proposed Friars Walk.
Although that scheme has now bitten the dust, it is hoped a new developer will come forward to deliver a similar-sized shopping scheme - and will have the advantage of having the car park already in place.
