Inquiries open for guaranteed parking in Toowoomba CBD

AUTHORISED long-term parking will become available to motorists in the Toowoomba CBD later this year.

Guaranteed CBD parking will be available later this year.

MONITORING cameras, improved lighting, and extra safety measures are some of the extra features that will be available when authorised long-term parking becomes available to motorists in the Toowoomba CBD later this year.

The latest move will see up to 110 spaces made available for authorised long-term parking on the top-deck of the Toowoomba Bus Station car park.

In approving the new changes, TRC infrastructure portfolio lead Cr Melissa Taylor said the council was committed to providing further options to residents.

"The way we park in the CBD has evolved considerably over the past few years and we need to make sure we make the necessary adjustments to support this," she said.

"It's all about making our CBD as attractive as possible and this latest move to provide more parking options is a major step in the right direction for our businesses and residents using the CBD.

"Last year we made a number of changes to increase parking turnover and to encourage the employees of businesses not to park in front of stores so that customers had better access to shops, however anecdotally we're still hearing cases of this happening.

"To provide these employees, and anyone else needing to access the CBD regularly with further parking options, the council will make authorised long-term parking available on the top-deck of the Toowoomba Bus Station car park.

"By doing this, it means motorists will have access to this authorised long-term parking zone regardless of what time of the day they arrive at the facility, which is one aspect of what our residents have told us they would like to see.

Cr Taylor said authorised long-term parkers will have 24 hour access, seven days a week to the parking zone, with the knowledge they can come and go as many times as they like.

"This facility is in the middle of the CBD and we want to increase utilisation of the top-deck, so providing a range of long-term parking options makes sense," she said.

"To do this, we will need to invest further in the facility, installing card readers, signage and safety measures, such as monitoring cameras and lighting which will cost around $60,000 and take approximately three months to purchase and install.

"This is just one of the projects which forms the Toowoomba City Centre Car Parking Strategy 2019-2024."

Operation of the authorised long-term parking zone on the top-deck of the bus station is expected to begin in late 2020, with up to 110 spaces available for periods of three, six-month or 12-month access to this zone.

The fees for authorised long-term parking tickets will be $678.25 for three months, $1144 for six months and $1716 for a year.

Anyone interested in applying for one of the long term-parking tickets available should write to the council at PO Box 3021 or email [e-mail].

For more information visit www.tr.qld.gov.au/parking or call the council on 131 872.