The recent announcement by the City of Casey to conduct consultation on the Kramer Drive car park in Berwick has been met with objections from on-street residents once more, saying the council’s push for it is alarming.
Sophie, a prominent voice from Kramer Drive, and having spoken to Star News on previous occasions during the initial car park announcement, said that the “risk” on the street remains an issue.
She highlighted the “risk this puts on Kramer Drive and the surrounding streets as seen at 1001 steps”.
“Antisocial behaviour, as well as the risk to the surrounding properties, we have seen this as actual evidence at 1001 Steps, and to put it into perspective, that reflects security failures, the gate was left open after hours,” she said.
A transport impact assessment conducted by onemilegrid for the City of Casey on the proposed car park detailed that the car park is not proposed to be a permanent car park and will not be open and available for use on all days/times.
According to the report, the hours between 10am and 4pm are the proposed operating times, also adding that the purpose of the car park is to “serve the existing parking demands of the Wilson Botanic Park and to alleviate the existing utilisation parking in surrounding local streets”.
A week before the public consultation period for the Kramer Drive car park was announced, Sophie heard from other locals living around the gate that e-bike and other small motorised vehicle users were heard and observed “speeding up and down the road”.
“They’re entering the park after-hours, and during daylight hours, putting park visitors, residents and the landscape at risk.
“If we can’t even guarantee a small pedestrian gate can be closed, how can we know a carpark gate will be? It’s a failure before it’s started,” she said.
Further up north, 1001 Steps, especially its Bayview Carpark, is a known destination for late-night gatherings, ones that involve disruptive behaviour, loitering vehicles, and loud music, to name a few.
These disruptions are not limited to weekends, with residents near the Bayview Carpark reporting spikes of this or similar behaviour throughout the week, sometimes even consistently.
In response, the City of Casey has implemented a series of traffic mitigation devices, such as gates, yellowed lines, and stop signs; however, if something similar were to come to the end of Kramer Drive, Sophie isn’t too confident of its effectiveness.
On top of this, she said that traffic is another major concern, that on a daily basis, she has to “live with the pressure of getting out to an already busy road on Harkaway Road”.
“Even if someone lets me out, I have no safe turn angle to perform a right-hand turn; imagine the proposed 60-100 cr spaces of people plus those that would be turned around once the car park is full,” she said.
However, the traffic report states that Kramer Drive has “sufficient capacity… to accommodate the redistributed traffic movements to and from the temporary car park”,
Detailed in the report, it states that it is “anticipated” that the new temporary car park would be “well utilised” during peak days since it provides an alternative to those who would normally park on the south side of the Princes Highway.
It highlights the impact it could have to limit the number of pedestrians crossing through the main entrance of the park, where there is no designated crossing path.
The report also adds that despite the car park being open on numerous days throughout the year, there is no guarantee that it will be heavily used “each and every day it is open and available for use”.
“The proposed temporary car park is not expected to generate additional traffic movement to the site, but rather redistribute traffic that is already on the road network.
“The operation of the Kramer Drive / Harkaway Road intersection and Lyall Road / Harkaway Road / Brisbane Street roundabout is expected to continue to operate within capacity,” the report reads.
Despite this, the report also adds that Kramer Drive is capable of a vehicle volume of 2000-3000 a day, with the car park able to handle 1500 a day, numbers that Sophie deems ridiculous, and a “high amount”.
This story is developing, and more information will be added once available.
Star News is sourcing comments from locals, as well as park goers.
In the meantime, the remaining consultation periods for the car park are on Sunday 31 August between 12pm and 2pm, and on 13 September from 11am to 1pm, at the cafe in Wilson Botanic Park.
