Parking woes at Williams Landing train station may soon be a thing of the past, with property developer Cedar Woods offering to help Public Transport Victoria find a solution.
Cedar Woods development director Patrick Archer confirmed the company had proposed an interim commuter carpark to alleviate some of the stress experienced by commuters.
“It’s up in the air at the moment,” Mr Archer told Star Weekly. “We’ve offered to extend our existing carpark at the shopping centre, leading down to the same street the carpark is on.
“We’re open to other options as well.”
Cedar Woods’ suggestion comes as a petition launched by a Point Cook resident gains traction, with more than 1000 people pledging their support to a call for additional parking bays at Williams Landing and Aircraft stations.
PTV spokesman Jake McLaughlan said potential future options to increase the capacity of the WiIlliams Landing carpark were being investigated, and that included talking to adjoining land owners.
He said the best way to alleviate parking congestion was to make it easier for commuters to get to the station in other ways.
Wyndham council transport portfolio holder Glenn Goodfellow, and Hobsons Bay councillor Colleen Gates both welcomed the suggestion of more parking at Williams Landing but said more needed to be done.
“This is not the answer but it’s part of the solution,” Cr Goodfellow said.
“We need more frequent trains and buses [to the station] to truly address the issue.”
He said while bus patronage was on the decline across metropolitan Melbourne, Wyndham was bucking the trend, experiencing a 14.9 per cent rise in the nine months to March.
Cr Gates agreed, saying an integrated solution was needed to enable commuters to get to their nearest train station.
“This includes the provision of a dedicated bus and transit lane from Point Cook and more bicycle parking at all stations,” she said.
with Goya Dmytryshchak
