Wagga Wagga City Council is seeking public feedback on its Draft Central Business District (CBD) Parking and Traffic Study, which is on public exhibition until the end of August.
The draft study has been prepared as part of the Council’s CBD Masterplan, which is being developed to guide land use and development in the city centre.
Manager City Growth and Projects, Ben Creighton said the CBD Parking and Traffic Study provides a clear evidence base of what is happening in the city now.
“It’s the first time that a parking study has been undertaken for the Wagga Wagga CBD since 2008,” Mr Creighton said.
“As the city grows, traffic is going to become an important factor for the CBD. It was important to undertake this the study and get the actual evidence and data at this time.
“It gives us an understanding of the current parking and traffic conditions, and looks at how that’s functioning now, how the traffic and parking demands will increase as the city grows, and how that will need to be catered for in the future.”
The study examined existing parking supply, utilisation, traffic movements and accessibility, and the likely impacts of population growth, increased visitation and future development within the city centre.
It found there is currently no overall shortage of parking across the CBD and that existing parking supply is sufficient to support current demand.
“However, the distribution of that parking and the way that parking is utilised means that at different times, parking within the CBD is under pressure,” Mr Creighton said.
“The report identifies that while there will be a need for additional parking infrastructure in around a decade’s time as the city grows, what’s needed now is smaller interventions.
“These would look at being able to direct people to other car parks that are underutilized, as well as looking at some of the mechanisms around timing of car parks and the way they’re managed to ensure that we get better use of existing assets.”
The study recommends 54 possible interventions to help reduce the impacts of growth on traffic and parking over the next 15 years and identifies a staged framework for responding to future parking and traffic pressure.
“The study talks about a wide range of things, from parking and vehicle movements to cycling infrastructure, public transport infrastructure, and pedestrian usage of different areas,” Mr Creighton said.
“We want the community to give us feedback on anything that they believe the study has missed, or also, based on the data, what they would like to see within the city so they can be considered as part of the broader CBD Masterplan.
“It’s about building that bigger picture in amongst all the other inputs that will feed into the CBD Masterplan.”
As the CBD Masterplan progresses to its final stage, the outcomes of this study will be considered alongside a CBD Heritage Review, Urban Design investigations and other supporting technical work to develop a single strategic framework that will guide the future planning, investment and revitalisation of the Wagga Wagga CBD.
View the study here: CBD Parking and Traffic Study.
