Ballarat’s commuters will have to wait a little longer before they can drive their cars into the new multi-deck car park on Nolan Street.
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While higher than average winter rainfall delayed excavation works and hampered the ability to lay foundations, Australia’s severe weather has struck again.
According to the state government, days of extreme heat over summer have also contributed to delays in the completion of works.
A state government spokesperson said the “Ballarat Station commuter car park will be opened to the public in late February”.
In other anticipated parking changes, the final number of car parks to be lost in the redevelopment of Mair Street is still up in the air.
While the state government confirmed last year the upgrade will see the loss of 69 car parks for the first, fully-funded part of the $7 million project, that number may drop further.
Regional Roads Victoria Western Region director Mal Kersting said since September, they had been working with retailers to “understand and minimise any impact on local businesses”.
“As the scope and plans for the entire Mair Street upgrade continue to be refined, we will not have a total number of parks affected by the works until that process is complete,” he said.
Losses of car parks have been a constant topic of conversation and consternation for traders. The project between Humffray and Doveton streets was conceived to improve traffic flow with two lanes in each direction and upgraded intersections.
Median parking on Mair Street near Lydiard Street is also likely to be removed, with RRV floating the idea of creating 20 new off-street parking spaces at a disused car yard along Mair Street.
While the Humffray Street corner is upgraded, three parking spaces near restaurant Table 48 will removed temporarily, to be re-instated at the completion of the works at the intersection.
Visible construction is under way on a Creswick Road car park, next to Officeworks, which will provide 300 paid spaces to offset the 275 car parks lost during construction on the Civic Hall and GovHub.
City of Ballarat is spending $600,000 to construct the car park at 122 Creswick Road, the former Shell service station, however council’s lease on the land stretches just three years, meaning Ballarat will likely lose the 300 parks in 2021.