A BOOM in business in lower Keppel Street has prompted a call for a serious review of parking in the area.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Redevelopments of the Tremain's Mill complex and Victoria Hotel have brought new customers to the area, putting extra strain on local parking.
Councillor Jess Jennings has put forward the concerns of business owners in Keppel Street, who say there needs to be an increase in parking availability.
That applies to both the number of spaces and vehicle turnover.
ALSO MAKING NEWS:
Cr Jennings said that among the considerations would be changing the parking spaces between Seymour and Havannah streets from parallel to 45-degree angled parking.
The change to angle parking would nearly double the amount of spaces available on that block.
He has already spoken with Bathurst Regional Council's engineering services director Darren Sturgiss who said it would be some time before an idea like this, if approved, could be executed.
The delay would be due to the substantial cost of capital works.
"The issue at the moment is that the road is not wide enough to allow for 45-degree angle parking," Cr Jennings said.
"Basically, those concrete barriers around the lamp standards have to go and that's quite an expensive job, so it can't happen in this current financial year but I want to flag it for being put into the next budget."
Angled parking is not the only idea that has been put forward to maximise parking opportunities.
Some businesses have also suggested that all-day spots from Havannah Street to Manilla Lane, on the Tremain's Mill side only, have a two-hour time limit imposed.
Timed parking would force motorists to move on and encourage more people to come into Keppel Street businesses if they were able to readily access parking.
"They don't want it to be one hour because that is too short. You run the risk of having lunch and coming out to a fine, but two hours seems to work pretty well just up the road at the next corner at Legall and The Hub," Cr Jennings said.
"[Businesses] are well aware that it needs to be done in consideration with the other stakeholders in the street, particularly residents and the childcare."
The reason changes to parking have been suggested is due to increased activity in lower Keppel Street, largely from the development of the Tremain's Mill site.
Cr Jennings said activity would only increase as the area was further developed and when the new Railway Museum, around the corner in Havannah Street, opens later this year.
"The development at Tremain's Mill is obviously starting to hit its straps now and you can see that in terms of the population of cars growing significantly," he said.
"Probably for the last six weeks to two months, every time I turn into Keppel Street from the lower end, there's literally no parking space between the roundabout and nearly to Seymour Street.
"Prior to Doppio [café] opening there, you almost never saw that there."
The suggestions to improve parking will need to be considered by council's traffic committee and would require significant community consultation before any decision could be made.