Construction of the state government’s mammoth $50 million upgrade to the Ballarat Station Precinct will officially get underway next week after months of deliberation.
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Fencing in the north-east corner of the precinct will go up over the weekend in anticipation of the multi-storey car park build.
While part of the unsealed car parking will be blocked off to public access, about 50 temporary spaces will be opened up at the nearby Eastern Oval.
In a statement Regional Development Minister Jaala Pulford described the undertaking as a “transformational project for Ballarat that will inject a new lease of life into our city”.
The 405-space car park is due to be completed by mid-2018, with works on the rest of the upgrade to begin after the space is opened to commuters.
Construction had been expected to begin earlier in the year but was pushed back due to heritage concerns registered by residents and the Ballarat City Council.
The existing unsealed parking space will be transformed into private parking for the goods shed, which is set to become a convention centre with retail and hospitality spaces.
The development is expected to be completed by the end of 2019.
Third station needed for 200,000-strong Ballarat population
A third Ballarat station and an extra Wendouree platform are among the upgrades which will be needed to cope with a 200,000-strong population according to one of the state’s leading rail experts.
Across the past five years train trips taken on the Ballarat line have jumped by almost 500,000, eclipsing population growth of about 8000 across a similar time frame.
Among the list of concerns voiced by opposition group Save Our Station to the government’s redevelopment of Ballarat Station has been the future growth of the city and the need for the entirety of the central Ballarat site to be devoted to public transport and parking.
Rail Futures Institute president John Hearsch said further infrastructure would need to be installed to the east and west of the city to accommodate population growth.
Building a new Warrenheip park and ride station within the next decade is one possibility put forward by the institute which has gained traction with local government.
“(A Warrenheip station) is a recognition that even with the extra parking in the development of central Ballarat it’s never going to provide the level of parking needed as the population grows,” Mr Hearsch said.
“It complements Wendouree to western side of Ballarat and while there's a roughly two minute penalty in journey time from inserting a stop the journey time that is really important is from home to the destination.”
Ballarat City Council listed the acquisition of land in Warrenheip among its 28 priority projects when lobbying state government earlier this year.
The most recent addition to Ballarat’s station infrastructure came in 2009 when the-then Brumby government opened Wendouree Station, which saw 11 trains a each weekday in early.
As of October 2017 more than 40 services used the stop from Monday to Friday, nine of which occurred during the morning and evening peaks.
The station currently features 200 car parks, with further spaces expected to be built by the end of 2018.
Mr Hearsch said a second platform as well as additional stabling would be crucial to accommodating a city double its current size, however improved disability access to Ballarat Station remained the upgrade which needed to be prioritised.
Disability access across platforms one and two has been another sticking point for opponents to the $50 million Station Precinct upgrade.
“The first and most pressing thing is to fix up the main station to make it more customer friendly,” Mr Hearsch said. “They will have to find a way to install lifts without damaging the heritage aspects of the station.”