Melbourne’s city centre could see a major revamp to its car parking in a bid to ease traffic congestion.
Key points:
- Clearer parking signs, changes to loading zones and widened streets are hoped to improve parking in Melbourne’s CBD
- Up to 30 per cent of traffic in the CBD is made up of motorists cruising to find a park
- There are no planned changes to the maximum hourly rate of $7 in the city
The City of Melbourne plans to introduce measures to make parking in the CBD simpler and fairer after a recent survey found more than 80 per cent of motorists struggled to find an on-street parking space during their last visit.
Simplified signage, changes to loading zones and more consistent layouts and durations for parking spaces are among the proposed changes in the draft Park and Kerbside Management Plan.
Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the council did not intend to increase the current maximum $7 hourly parking rate in the CBD.
“There are no plans to increase the rate at all but there are some propositions to reduce the rate at lower peak times to encourage people to come into the city at those times when there are more car parks available,” she said.
“If lowering the price would help with that, then that’s something we are certainly willing to consider.”
Ms Capp said she hoped proposed changes would alleviate “parking anxiety” and congestion because motorists cruising to find a park made up about 30 per cent of traffic in the CBD.
