Taken from Diario Libre
SANTO DOMINGO- Engineers have been making progress for several weeks on the construction of a modern underground parking garage at the Senate of the Republic, which will cost RD$240,151,871.55 to address the lack of parking space that affects members of Congress and forces employees of this institution to park on the peripheral streets of the congested Heroes Center in the National District.
The structure tendered through reference No. SEN-CCC-LPN-2022-002 is executed by the company Malespín Constructora, SRL, selected after an evaluation process in which it was considered that this was the most suitable company and with the best price offer when compared to the construction company Consorcio CJ/IS, indicates the resolution issued by the Committee for Purchases of Goods and Services chaired by Senator Milciades Franjul.
The current parking lot for the Senate barely accommodates the 32 senators and some of the senior management staff in that wing of the National Congress. The new parking lot will be able to accommodate more than 300 vehicles, the Senatorial Representation Department confirms.
The parking lot could be ready and operational in the last quarter of this year, 2023.
An engineer who preferred not to be identified confirmed to Diario Libre that the structure will have three levels, two of them underground and one on the surface.
The work is being carried out specifically on the front right side (as you enter the National Congress building), which is the area that corresponds to the Senate . The Chamber of Deputies is located on the far left.
"The project includes a 200,000-gallon potable water tank. This storage will allow for the later installation of firefighting equipment, because the Senate does not have firefighting equipment," says Senate President Eduardo Estrella Virella.
He said that he works thinking about the continuity of the State and the institutions, because, in his opinion, this remains and everything else passes away.
“The excavation phase has involved many difficulties because this is a very rocky area,” says Estrella Virella.
Traffic congestion at "La Feria"
The Heroes' Center area is among the areas with the highest concentration of state and private institutions in the National District. Every day, hundreds of vehicles belonging to visitors and employees have to be parked on both sides of the streets.
The owners of these vehicles attend the National Congress, the Attorney General's Office (PGR), the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJ), the National District City Hall (ADN), the Ministry of Labor (MP), the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI), among other entities.
In this area, one of several parking lots being built through the General Directorate of Public-Private Partnerships (DPPs) is being constructed to address part of the problem.
