Monaco Delivers 1,790-Space Parking des Salines and Underground Pedestrian Gallery to Ease Cross-Border Traffic

Pivotal Park-and-Ride Solution at Monaco’s Western Gateway

JARDIN EXOTIQUE, Monaco — Addressing one of the Principality’s most pressing urban mobility challenges, His Serene Highness Prince Albert II and the Prince’s Government have inaugurated and brought into full service the monumental Parking des Salines and Galerie des Salines Megaproject. Positioned strategically at the western entrance to the Principality in the upper Jardin Exotique district, the massive engineering achievement provides 1,790 parking spaces across 15 levels carved directly into the limestone rockface of the Tête de Chien.

Every working day, more than 50,000 inbound commuters from neighboring France and Italy travel into Monaco, causing severe bottleneck gridlock along the Moyenne Corniche, Boulevard du Jardin Exotique, and the entrance to the Rainier III tunnel. Parking des Salines acts as a state-of-the-art 'park-and-ride' interception hub, allowing incoming cross-border workers and tourists to park at heavily subsidized rates before completing their journeys into Monaco via clean mass transit or underground pedestrian walkways.

The Galerie des Salines: Underground Pedestrian Link to Fontvieille

Directly integrated into the facility is the Galerie des Salines, an extraordinary subterranean pedestrian artery engineered to connect the upper Jardin Exotique district directly to Avenue Pasteur and the seaside industrial and business district of Fontvieille. Measuring hundreds of metres in length and equipped with high-speed travelators, escalators, and panoramic glass elevators, the gallery allows commuters to walk between Jardin Exotique and Fontvieille in just 10 to 15 minutes.

The pedestrian tunnel also doubles as an architectural and cultural showcase, featuring the painstakingly restored monumental ceramic artworks of celebrated French ceramicist Roger Capron. Originally commissioned in the 1960s for Monaco’s railway infrastructure, the historic tiles were recovered, restored by conservation specialists, and installed along the illuminated walls of the gallery to create an uplifting commuter experience.

CAM Express Electric Shuttles and Monaco ON Clean Infrastructure

To deliver rapid, effortless surface connections to the rest of the Principality, the Compagnie des Autobus de Monaco (CAM) launched two dedicated high-frequency express shuttle bus lines: Xpress 1 and Xpress 2. Departures run every 10 minutes from dedicated sheltered bus terminals within the parking complex. Xpress 1 carries passengers directly to Place d’Armes and Port Hercule in under eight minutes, while Xpress 2 provides swift links to Monte-Carlo and the Casino district.

Demonstrating Monaco's leadership in clean transportation, Parking des Salines is equipped with 100 Monaco ON electric vehicle charging points, making it the highest-capacity EV charging station hub on the French Riviera. The complex also features a MonaBike electric bike-sharing station, designated coach parking for international tourism operators, and extensive rooftop photovoltaic solar arrays that feed clean solar power directly into the national grid.

Advancing Carbon Neutrality and National Decarbonization Targets

Monegasque Ministers of Public Works and the Environment emphasized that Parking des Salines is a cornerstone of the Principality’s White Paper on the Energy Transition, which mandates a 55 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and full carbon neutrality by 2050.

By intercepting thousands of private passenger vehicles at the border and offering attractive transit incentives—including free CAM bus travel for all parking ticket holders—the hub effectively curbs tailpipe emissions, reduces localized particulate matter, and establishes an exemplary model for smart urban mobility across micro-states worldwide.