Mair Street businesses have responded positively to a state government announcement that 600 jobs will be moved to the Ballarat Civic Hall site.
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The package will see government positions moved from Melbourne to Ballarat.
It will coincide with a redevelopment of Mair Street that will remove parking to improve traffic flow.
Despite the loss of car parks, Freight Bar owner Chris Sargent said it could still be successful.
“In terms of the streetscape, if it is half a successful as changes on Armstrong Street I will be happy,” he said.
“They changed a lot of the parking and it became a hub.
“People there hated the concept, but they have said it worked out.”
Mr Sargent said he expected foot-traffic into Freight Bar would increase with the extra workers.
Work is already underway to redevelop the landscaping around the Civic Hall site.
VicRoads and the state government announced key upgrades to the troubled street including upgraded intersections, new pedestrian crossing, dual lanes and upgraded turning lanes in April.
A roundabout at the intersection of Grenville and Mair Streets is expected to be removed – easing a current bottleneck and increasing flow.
There was community consultation with 34 randomly selected business representative.
Upgrade recommendations included adding dual lanes in each direction west of Lydiard Street, replacing the roundabout with lights, planting trees on Mair Street to create a boulevard, dedicated infrastructure for cyclists and pedestrians, and synchronised lights.
All of the recommendations are expected to be implemented
Peter Mosby owns Pyro Tribal and Rustic Art directly across from the Civic Hall.
He said although initial redevelopment would have a negative effect on trade, it would be for the long-term benefit of the street and Ballarat.
“It has to happen and we have to move forward because it is good for the city and good for the area,” he said.
“It will probably create more walk in traffic for me – all my business is walk in and word of mouth.
“There is going to be a lot of workers over there, hopefully in my demographic.”
Mr Mosby said parking on the street was not an issue but would potentially become one when car parks were removed.
