MULTI-STOREY parking or a temporary car park should be considered at the new South Morang station to help meet commuter demand, according to South Morang and Mernda Rail Alliance.
Commuters have struggled to find car park space since the station opened and alliance spokesman Darren Peters said it was usually full by 7.30am.
He called on the state government to investigate solutions.
He said the best option would be to extend the rail line to Mernda, but as neither the government nor opposition planned to do that, “something needs to be done to expand the car park”.
Mr Peters said traffic had eased on Plenty Road, south of McDonalds Road, since the station opened last month but it was a problem in the north.
“South Morang is acting as the train station for Mernda, Doreen and Whittlesea,” he said. “This is why it [the car park] is filling up so fast. People have no alternative but to drive down Plenty Road to use the station.”
The alliance has collected more than 2000 signatures on a petition calling for an immediate rail extension to Mernda.
But Public Transport Victoria said it was not possible to give every commuter a parking space.
Spokeswoman Donna Watson said PTV was focused on providing public transport connections, allowing convenient access to the rail network.
“While car parking facilities are an important part of railway station infrastructure, because of land availability and resource
constraints it is not possible to provide car parking for all commuters,” she said.
Whittlesea Council engineering and transportation manager Greg Scott said that, other than the council offices, council did not own any land close enough to the station that would be suitable for commuter parking.
