Adopted - Drouin, Yarragon & Trafalgar Parking Studies

  • Project typeCommunity Consultation
  • Project scheduleThe parking studies and recommendations were endorsed by Council on 24 May 2023
  • Contractor nameHDS Australia
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Baw Baw Shire Council has undertaken a thorough review of car parking in Drouin, Yarragon and Trafalgar to help us understand where parking pressures lie and how we can plan to address them.

Through these studies, Council has explored how parking can be improved in ways that are practical, financially viable and in line with community preferences. 

Following community consultation (which you can read more about in the 'what's involved in the consultation process' tab), as well as data collection research, HDS Australia provided a report for Council that included recommended actions to improve the car parking experience in Drouin, Yarragon and Trafalgar.

These reports include updated parking maps and an estimate of costs associated with each recommendation. The reports and recommendations were adopted by Council on Wednesday, 24 May 2023. 

Implementation of the endorsed recommendations will implemented in stages over the coming financial year, in some cases subject to agreement and negotiation with property owners.

Public notice will be given before changes to parking times are implemented to avoid unintentional overstays and fines. Where changes impact specific businesses or residences, they will be notified directly.

Reports for each town, recommendations, and maps can be viewed and downloaded below.  


Drouin parking study report and adopted recommendations

Click here to download the Drouin Parking Study Report(PDF, 5MB)

The below recommendations are included in the report and have been adopted for implementation.

Recommendations for Drouin

  • Increase parking enforcement, as well as develop new initiatives and community education to ensure best parking practices.
  • Reduce the 2 hour parking along Princes Way between Bank Place and Sinclair Street to 1 hour to increase vehicle turnover.
  • Improve Woolworths carpark by increasing the widths of the 90-degree parking spaces.
  • Turn Commercial Place into a one-way traffic road only from east to west but allow 2-way traffic from Hope Street to the Woolworths carpark.
  • Convert 36 out of 72 off-street parking at the Drouin Skatepark to 4 hour spaces and the four 2 hour spaces to 2 disabled bays.
  • Convert parking on Young Street service road between Woolworths access and Hope Street to 3 hour bays.
  • Rectify all signage deficiencies.
  • Improve parking wayfinding signage.

Click on the image to enlarge the recommendations map

Trafalgar parking study report and adopted recommendations

Click here to download the Trafalgar Parking Study Report(PDF, 4MB)

The below recommendations are included in the report and have been adopted for implementation.

Recommendations for Trafalgar

  • Increase parking enforcement in the Trafalgar town centre area.
  • Improve parking turnover in Depot Lane and McCrorey Street carparks.
  • Formalise the unrestricted parking spaces along both sides of Kitchener Street by installing line markings from Anzac Road to Lady Hamilton Lane.
  • Convert unrestricted spaces on the western side of McCrorey Street to long vehicle parking.
  • Rectify all signage deficiencies.
  • Improve parking wayfinding signage.

Click on the image to enlarge the recommendations map

Yarragon parking study report and adopted recommendations

Click here to download the Yarragon Parking Study Report(PDF, 3MB)

The below recommendations are included in the report and have been adopted for implementation.

Recommendations for Yarragon

  • Increase parking enforcement, as well as develop new initiatives and community education to ensure best parking practices.
  • Convert unrestricted parking spaces on Princes Highway Service Road to time restricted spaces.
  • Convert 4 unrestricted parking spaces on Loch Street to long vehicle parking spaces.
  • Convert unrestricted parking spaces in Loch Street carpark and Hanns Lane northwest carpark to 2 hour bays.
  • Reconstruction of Campbell Street and keep all on-street parking as 1 hour.
  • Construction of angle parking on the south side of Hanns Lane near Rollo Street.
  • Rectify all signage deficiencies.
  • Improve parking wayfinding signage.

Click on the image to enlarge the recommendations map

Data collection

Council's project consultant, HDS Australia,  conducted car parking studies and data collection in each town throughout late April and May of 2022, while phase one of community consultation was underway.

This data was then used to identify areas of concern, potential improvements and development of the recommendations that were then presented back to the community.

What's involved in the consultation process?

Phase one consultation (April - May 2022)

Council has worked closely with the community across all stages of the consultation to understand sentiments and desired outcomes. 

Phase one consultation included an online survey, where community members provided information about their car parking habits, as well as general feedback about the towns they frequently visit. 

Council held pop-up feedback sessions in each town, providing community members the opportunity to discuss the parking study, ask questions, and provide feedback to our project team.

Phase two consultation (October - November 2022)

Following phase one, HDS Australia completed a report for Council that includes recommended actions to improve the car parking experience in Drouin, Yarragon and Trafalgar. Community members were invited to review these reports and provide their feedback.

Presentation to Council (early 2023)

Following the final round of community consultation, the findings and recommendations were collated and presented to Council for consideration.

Council was presented with the reports and recommendations on Wednesday 24 May 2023 and community members were again able to provide their feedback on the reports via the Council Meeting submission process.

At this Council Meeting the reports and recommendations were endorsed by Council for implementation.

           

Background Information and FAQ

To learn more about about the project, the background information informing these studies and for answers to frequently asked questions, click the drop-down menu below.

Previous Yarragon and Trafalgar parking study recommendations

Council completed parking studies in Yarragon and Trafalgar in 2015, which included a recommendation to complete subsequent studies in five years time. The other recommendations that formed the adopted action plan are below:

Yarragon Parking Study 

1. Increase the presence of Council's parking enforcement - Incomplete

2. Council to improve existing disabled parking bays to meet Australian Standards - Complete

3. Augment Council's parking directional signage - Complete

4. Advocate with PTV for improved public transport connections and strategic planning for railway station car parking for the potential growth of the town - Ongoing

5. Review parking conditions with Yarragon CBD in five years time (2021/22) to determine parking demand based on town growth - Underway

6. Improve truck parking facilities along Princes Highway including developing town action plans - Ongoing 


Trafalgar Parking Study 

1. Increase the presence of Council's parking enforcement - Incomplete

2. Council to improve existing disabled parking bays to meet Australian Standards - Complete

3. Undertake investigations into locating additional loading bays - Complete

4. Augment Council's parking directional signage - Complete

5. Advocate with PTV for improved public transport connections and strategic planning for railway station car parking for the potential growth of the town - Ongoing

6. Review parking conditions with Trafalgar CBD in five years time (2021/22) to determine parking demand based on town growth - Underway

7. Improve truck parking facilities along Princes Highway including developing town action plans - Ongoing 

Previous Drouin parking study recommendations

Council completed a parking study Drouin during 2018, which included a recommendation to complete subsequent study in the 2019/20 financial year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic this study was delayed, and now will be completed in alignment with the Yarragon and Trafalgar studies. The other recommendations that formed the adopted action plan are below:

Drouin Parking Study 

1. Provide additional directional signage in the Drouin CBD area to highlight underutilised parking areas - Complete

2. Develop a parking restriction map and peak occupancy map based on the outcomes of the Drouin Parking Study Review and communicate this within the community - Complete

3. Request VicRoads approval to line mark an edge line along the north side of Princes Way between 139 Princes Way and Bank Place, to better delineate existing on-street angled parking and the main carriageway - Complete

4. Undertake an investigation into the feasibility for a future project to include angled parking on the south side of Princes Way, Drouin between Main South Road and Hope Street, and the project be considered for inclusion into Council’s Long Term Infrastructure Plan - Design in progress

5. Investigate changes to improve the functionality of the Woolworths parking area - Complete

6. Consider a future project for the installation of long vehicle and trailer parking on the west side of Hope Street as part of the proposed review of Council’s Long Term Infrastructure Plan to be undertaken during the 2018-2019 financial year - Complete

7. Consider future provision and a proposed location for additional parking within the Drouin CBD area as part of the Drouin Structure Plan Council Plan initiative - Complete

8. Continue to proactively enforce parking within the Drouin CBD area - Ongoing

Background information and key findings

You can download the previous parking studies and find a summary of the findings below:

Drouin Parking Study

A Project Reference Group (PRG) involving community members and businesses was set up in April 2017 to create a parking related focus group for Drouin. The PRG included Council staff, Councillors, business owners, community members and stakeholders such as VicRoads, PTV and Victoria Police, as well as Taxi service providers. Emergency services personnel including SES and Ambulance were also invited.

Four days of parking surveys were conducted between 8.30am and 6.00pm on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday in July.

The results indicated that the peak occupancy across the township was 63% at 10.30am on a Wednesday. There was a trend of the highest occupancy occurring between 10.30am and 12.30pm on weekdays. 

Other Victorian towns of similar population size were benchmarked against Drouin for peak parking occupancy:

  • 76% in Apollo Bay during peak tourist season
  • 68.5% in Bairnsdale
  • 63% in Drouin
  • 58% in Traralgon
  • 58% in Colac
  • 52% in Morwell 

Whilst the peak and average occupancy rates across the township is less than that which is deemed to be at theoretical capacity; it is noted that some specific area across the Drouin CBD experience higher peak and average occupancy rates. 

Yarragon Parking Study 

The Yarragon CBD Study Area consisted of 451 defined parking spaces. The survey was conducted over five days in which information was collected every hour within the study area. The data range was collected between the period 8am – 6pm (the last reading) to determine parking occupancy rate.

On any given day, the peak occupancy rate was detected at approximately at 12pm. The peak occupancy on Sunday was at 1pm.

Within the Yarragon CBD area, there was greater demand for short term parking than long term parking. Yarragon has parking needs that are unique due to one of the major function of the town catering to a large number of tourists that travel along the Princes Freeway.

There was a total of 306 overstays detected during the week where parking turnover was not operating at its optimum and may also indicate the behavioural consequence of limited parking enforcement.

Trafalgar Parking Study

The Trafalgar CBD study area consists of 599 defined parking spaces excluding additional informal private parking such as gravel parking spaces and some parking spaces perceived to be for public use. The survey was conducted over five days in which information was collected every hour within the study area – the study area being Trafalgar central business, commercial and industrial areas. The data range was collected between the period 8am – 6pm to determine parking occupancy rate.

Within the Trafalgar CBD area, there was greater demand for short term parking than long term parking.

It was also noted that there was a high number of over stays detected during the study period.

This was a total of 344 overstays detected during the study period where parking turnover was not operating at its optimum and may also indicate the behavioural consequence of limited parking enforcement.

Contact us

Have questions? We’re here to help! For more information about the Drouin, Yarragon and Trafalgar parking studies, please contact our project team on 1300 229 229 or email CivilAsset.Planning@bawbawshire.vic.gov.au