THE City of Bayswater is introducing parking restrictions in the town centre in the face of losing parking bays at the train station.
Works on the station, which are expected to start in later this year, will require the removal of about 180 bays out of 244 around the station and changes to on-street bays on Whatley Crescent.
The Public Transport Authority has no plans to replace them, but about 80 bays will be added to Ashfield and 120 bays at Meltham stations.
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READ NOWThe City will increase parking restrictions in the town centre to try avoid the car parking squeeze.
Councillors adopted a short term car parking plan on September 3, which included limiting parking to 30 minutes on King William Street and Whatley Crescent, two hours within a short walk of the shopping areas and five hours within 10 to 15-minute walk from the station.
The new time restrictions will be implemented before January 2020 and cost the City $21,000.
The City will also consider leasing and building a carpark on Hamilton Street.
Mayor Dan Bull said the City met local businesses, held information session and ran an online survey to rank the options that were most important to them.
“The plan attempts to balance the needs of business owners, residents and visitors to the Bayswater town centre,” he said.
“One of the City’s main priorities is to ensure local businesses are not negatively impacted during the construction phase of the Bayswater train station.
“The plan will be implemented prior to the removal of commuter bays at the Bayswater train station which will ensure visitors can continue to browse local shops, enjoy lunch or have a coffee in the town centre.
“We will continue to monitor the situation.”
PTA spokesman David Hynes said final numbers for new parking bays would be confirmed once the contractor was on board.
“While there will be a reduction of bays at Bayswater, the PTA believes recent changes to stopping patterns on the Midland Line (to make all services all-stops) will encourage more passengers to drive to their closest station, rather than favouring Bayswater due to it being on the express stopping route,” he said.
“It is worth noting that parking in the central business district of Bayswater has been an issue for a number of years prior to the announcement of the project.
“While providing some park ‘n ride services for people who need a car to get to a train station does form a part of our business, our agency’s core goal is the provision of public transport.
“The proposed design for the station includes improvements to the bus facilities in Bayswater which will allow the PTA to investigate options for enhancing the existing bus services, and improving the efficiency of passenger links between rail and bus services.”
List of short-term actions
1. Advocate the State Government to provide more commuter bays as part of the upgrade before December 2019 2. Line marking on bays on King William Street before January 2020 3. Modified time restrictions of 30 minutes in the shopping areas on King William Street and Whatley Crescent, two hours within a short walk of the shopping areas and five hours within 10 to 15 minute walk from the station before January 2020 4. Encourage walking, cycling and using public transport 5. Advocate for better bus routes