PARKING CONGESTION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22392, 13 April 1936, Page 17

PARKING CONGESTION

PROPOSAL IN MELBOURNE GARAGE FOR 445 MOTOR-CARS Determined to assist in alleviating parking congestion to clear Melbourne's streets for moving traffic, officers of the Melbourne City Council are investigating proposals for the erection of large garages in the heart of the city. The Lord Mayor, Mr. A. G. Wales, has received a report from the acting town clerk advocating the construction, at a cost of £63,000, of a three-storey garage, to hold 445 cars, within the shell of the Western Market. The plans, which are being considered by the council's building surveyor, show that the garage would rise within the existing buildings, except to the south, where it would be continued through to Flinders Lane on a frontage of 140 ft., providing direct access to the basement and ground floors. Other floors would be reached by ramps and stairs. Adoption of the plan would necessitate the demolition of single-storey buildings on each side of the courtyard and part of the premises occupied by the Victorian Insurance Company, which, it is suggested, should take over premises at the corner of Collins and Market Streets formerly occupied by the Primary Producers' Bank. The report states that the City Council would probably have to forgo rentals to the value of approximately £I2OO a year. If the council built the garage it would probably lease it to a private firm.