RFI - Attachment G - Traffic report - Stuart Holland

            typical week at present, due to land use operating restrictions associated with current social
            distancing requirements. For example, playground parking demands are likely to peak at
            midday on weekends, when parking demands associated with competing land uses (other than
            perhaps the library on Saturday) are likely to be low. Also, the time of park parking demand for
            the overall surrounding area may also be at late morning on a weekday in school holidays,
            when all of the surrounding land uses, and the playground may be relatively busy.

(iii)       It is difficult to estimate the parking demand profiles across the week for the community
            buildings off Lower Mill Road, so it is difficult to estimate how those parking demand profiles
            might mesh with the parking demand profile for the playground.

(iv)        It is difficult to estimate how successful the playground might be and the associated parking
            demands at different time of the day and week and at different time of year (summer, winter,
            school holidays).

Parking provision requirements for these types of parkland upgrade are not well documented in the
literature. HTC has reviewed the peak parkland parking demand assessment prepared by Council
officers, “Hinterland Adventure Playground – Carparking Evaluation and Comparison Review”. That
document comprehensively reviews peak parking requirements for playgrounds of a similar size, and
reaches sound conclusions, that are relatively consistent with recent similar work undertaken by HTC
evaluating potential Council “water parks” at Logan City Council. That is, HTC agrees that the provision
of 60 additional parking spaces would likely be sufficient to cater for additional parking demands
generated by the proposed parkland upgrade.

The area of uncertainty, having regard to the above discussion, is whether the provision of 60 additional
parking spaces would potentially be excessive in practice, and lead to a waste of scarce Council
resources. For example, it may well be the case that the provision of the 12 additional parking spaces in
Maple Street together with the 22 additional spaces opposite the existing community building parking
area off Lower Mill Road could prove to be sufficient to satisfactorily accommodate peak parking
demands in a typical week.

A recommended compromise to address the above issues would be to fully construct the new parking
areas in Maple Street (12 spaces) and the additional spaces opposite the existing community building
parking area off Lower Mill Road (22 additional spaces), and to construct the other new parking area
proposed parallel with the creek (30 spaces) as an overflow parking area. This would be in conjunction
with a requirement that use of the overflow parking area be monitored for a full week in school holidays
and a full week outside of school holidays (possibly using a tube traffic counter at the eastern end of the
existing community building parking area) after the playground has been fully operational for three
months (and again at six months), and for the overflow parking area be formally sealed and linemarked if
regular use is identified at either period of monitoring. Funds should be set aside in the Council budget
to complete those works, but if the monitoring indicates that formalisation of the carpark is not necessary,
then those funds could then be used for other more worthy purposes.

In the above recommendation, the overflow parking area would need to be formally defined with log
fencing or similar, with parking space locations indicated on that fencing, and surfaced with an
appropriately drained material to prevent bogging of vehicles in wet weather and to accommodate foot
traffic.


6.0 Other traffic and parking related items

6.1 Library parking

The proposal will primarily impact on existing parking for the library because the prime parking spaces for
the playground are those in Marara Street. There are 9 existing parking spaces, including 2 disabled
parking spaces, on the southern side of Marara Street fronting the library building. There are no time
restrictions on the disabled parking spaces, and there is a 2 hour limit on the remaining 7 spaces.


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