NEW parking bays will be painted on Warrnambool’s busy Henna Street in response to congestion triggered by construction of the regional cancer centre at the base hospital.
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The city council voted 4-2 on Tuesday night to spend about $5000 on painting parallel bays between Merri and Koroit streets.
Councillors were told residents had expressed concerns about increasing numbers of vehicles being parked on both sides of the street and sometimes blocking driveways.
“Parking along this section of the road has increased following recent parking management changes and construction of the new radiotherapy centre in Ryot Street,” city chief executive Bruce Anson said.
“Parking in the hospital precinct has also steadily increased over time.
“A number of issues have been raised by local residents which have the potential risk for conflict and accidents between road users.
“The proposed works will not eliminate this risk totally, but will improve the road condition to control this risk.”
He said there was no designated street parking or restrictions on this section of Henna Street.
Mr Anson said the 11.4-metre-wide carriageway could allow for marked bays on both sides and 3.4m-wide traffic lanes in both directions plus cyclists.
However, feedback from residents indicates they are already worried about safety risks caused by reduced traffic lane width and cited near-misses between cyclists, cars, trucks and buses.
Some cyclists have taken to using the footpath instead of the road.
Councillors Peter Hulin and Peter Sycopoulis also raised concerns about narrowing traffic lanes at a time when authorities were moving to improve cycling safety.
They said Henna Street was a designated loop road and indented parking was a better option.
Cr Jacinta Ermacora acknowledged parallel parking was not the ideal scenario, but was the best short-term solution.
“The gold-plated scenario might be angle parking, but that would have to be included in our budget discussions,” she said.
“With the cancer centre project, parking pressures on Henna and other streets will be enormous.”
Councillors Kylie Gaston and Rob Askew said narrowing traffic lanes would force drivers to slow down and improve safety.
Mr Anson’s report showed about 7400 vehicles a day used the street which is also on the bus network route.
The council’s sustainable transport plan identifies it as a future cycling network link.
