Delays have beset construction of carparking at Donnybrook railway station, but the works are gaining momentum.
The company contracted to deliver 95 extra car spots at the station failed to return to the site in January last year.
The company, Global Contracting, was wound up voluntarily a few months later.
The site languished for 11 months before Public Transport Victoria contracted Campbellfield-based Bitu-Mill to construct the carpark expansion in two stages. Building a new carpark on vacant land next to the existing gravel carpark and relocating the entrance to Springs Road were bundled to form “stage one”.
This stage was completed last December, but further works to upgrade the Donnybrook Road and Springs Road intersection need to be completed before the new carpark can be used.
A spokesman for the Premier’s office said works to upgrade the intersection were due to begin immediately and were expected to be completed before the end of June.
But according to the PTV website, the entire carpark upgrade was scheduled to be completed early this year.
Stage two involves upgrades to the old gravel carpark. Asphalt was laid last week and installation of new lighting and line marking is now under way.
Once works are completed, the station will have 112 car spaces, including three disabled spots.
The completion is a blessing for surrounding businesses, including the Donnybrook Hotel, the post office and nearby restaurants whose customer carparking spots are being used by commuters heading into the city. A staff member at the hotel, who declined to give her name, said the hotel’s 30 car spots had been used by commuters for the past five years.
Yan Yean MP Danielle Green, who has campaigned for more parking at the train station for years, said she was pleased the project was near completion.
“With more carparking spaces and passengers able to travel from Donnybrook to the CBD on a zone 1 fare, this community will boom,” she said.
