Reconciling the needs of vehicular and pedestrian traffic poses a considerable problem in many historical city centres today. In Toledo, in central Spain, a step has been taken to resolve this by building a parking garage in the Paseo de Recaredo. The garage provides space for 400 vehicles and is linked with the city at a higher level by a cascading system of covered escalators. From the basement parking area, access to the foot of the escalators is via a short passageway beneath the foundations of the medieval walls. The route forms a new gateway to the city – an alternative to the Bisagra and Cambrón Gates – and also allowed the walls themselves to be left intact. The escalators are flanked on one side by a retaining wall cut into the hillside. This structure is folded and cantilevered out at the top to create a protective covering for pedestrians. Its green, planted roof also forms a visual continuation of the slope, even though it does not precisely follow the natural contours of the ground and rises slightly towards the outside. Cut into the hillside, this voluminous wall structure was built in ochre-coloured concrete, which reflects the traditional coloration of Toledo architecture.