By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Springvale’s notoriously unpopular multi-storey car park may have turned the corner, says its ward councillor Richard Lim.
A $1.2 million upgrade to improve access to the council-owned Number 8 Balmoral car park with wider corners and one-way ramps has started to draw drivers back, Cr Lim says.
The new ramps were completed in mid-December, along with State-funded new 15-watt LED lighting.
Cr Lim says the project will “pay for itself”, bringing more revenue from the six-deck car park.
As of 2021, the 517-space car park raised up to $270,000 a year from casual users. This is despite only 30 per cent occupancy on weekdays and 40 per cent on weekends.
For years, it was a paradox that the car park was less than half full while drivers hunted fruitlessly for scarce on-street parking.
Cr Lim says drivers had been deterred by numerous bingles and scrapes on the tight, blind corners between levels.
Cars were regularly wedged at the corners for up to 20 minutes, with long traffic queues behind them.
In an emergency, the result could be dire, Cr Lim says.
City major projects director Paul Kearsley said other upgrades included a security screen on the north side, with a west-side screen installed in March.
A roller door on level 3 of the car park will be installed in April, he said.
The ‘No.8’ car park was built by private developers in 2011.
The council contributed to the construction for an extra two levels to create more public parking.
Since then, the council has fixed a litany of faults such as broken-down lifts, ticket machines, boom gates and the first level’s tight corner.
Unfortunately, the problems still rear their head. The car park’s electric vehicle charging station is broken, with spare parts no longer available.
A replacement station costs between $5000 and $10,000, Mr Kearsley said.
