MONTEGO Bay’s traffic woes may soon be alleviated with the construction of a four-storey municipal car park.

According to mayor, Hugh Solomon, the St James Parish Council is now looking for partners to build and operate the four-storey facility near Dumbo’s Restaurant on Harbour Street.

“We don’t know how much it will cost yet but we have had discussions with one person who has shown an interest in developing it,” he told the Observer. “And we are hoping to have discussions with other parties so we can get the best deal.”

He said the project would be a joint venture between the public and private sectors.

“The Council will provide the land, and the car park will be built and operated by the business interest,” he said. “We would want them to operate it as a viable business. That way they could get back the money they put in, and at the same time the council could earn some revenue,” he added.

Montego Bay has long been plagued by congested streets as a result of haphazard parking along the roadways. Ongoing construction on the South Gully and Civic Centre projects has also added to the general chaos on the streets.

While Solomon did not provide a timeframe for when the car park would be in place, he maintained that there should be some temporary relief when the South Gully project is completed next month.

“We intend to use the base made available from South Gully, and make it available for paid parking,” he said.

“I don’t think we’ll put metres in place but we have to put some system in place so the space is available for parking.”