Parking chaos looms

CAIRNS could be hit by parking chaos in July when rising fees force more than 9400 daily commuters to fight for cheaper parking spaces.

And hundreds of cars that presently park at Cairns Central for free are expected to hit the streets and join the parking gridlock.

The chaos is likely to be the result of 1250 metered parks costing 10c more an hour, along with a 30c hike in hourly fees in Lake St and a $1 rise in some private parking centres.

Cairns Central Shopping Centre is also tipped to introduce paid parking in July, charged after two to three hours.

It aims to increase traffic flow and put a stop to commuters using the centre's 2500 parks for free daily parking.

As a result, up to 400 commuters could be out on the streets looking for a cheaper alternative each day.

There has been speculation for some time about the centre charging fees but manager Derek Ariss refused to comment to The Weekend Post on whether that would occur.

"We are constantly looking at improving the efficiency of our car park, and one option we are exploring is a managed car park system," he said.

"We have not yet finalised a new car park management strategy and will endeavour to meet with local organisations and authorities before doing so."

In the CBD there are 3100 on-street parking bays, both metered and free, 360 on-street special zones (including loading, disabled, taxi and police zones), 200 on-street motorcycle parking bays and more than 1000 parking spaces in the council's off-street car parking stations.

More than 5000 private parking spaces are also within the CBD, which is bounded by Florence St to the north, the Esplanade, Wharf St and the railway line.

While the Cairns Regional Council has not discussed the dilemma it could face, past figures show about 50,000 vehicles drive into and out of the CBD each day.

The council's revenue for off-street parking, regulated parking administration and collections was $216,200 below its year-to-date budgeted forecast of $4.89 million in March.