The University of Wollongong has revealed plans to expand north, creating dozens of extra car spaces and shifting its main campus boundaries closer to Mount Ousley.
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The university bought a large Keiraville property on Falder Place in April and hopes to link the two sections of its northern car park to build an extra 79 parking spots, according to documents submitted to Wollongong City Council.
The university paid $2.85 million for the 10,800 square metre block, according to Australian Property Monitors.
The car park site is adjacent to the section of the M1 motorway which NSW Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) has flagged as the site of a future interchange which could link Mount Ousley Road to the university.
The government committed $500,000 for planning on the project in this year’s budget.
UOW has lobbied the government to build the new road link through its submission to the government’s 20-year Illawarra growth plan, saying it would reduce congestion, improve safety and link the campus to Fairy Meadow.
The university’s facilities management director Bruce Flint said UOW was in talks with the RMS about the planning of the interchange, but said the development of the Falder Place land was in no way linked to the larger project.
‘‘That freeway is a bit of a divide between us and the north-east, so if we could get a pedestrian and bicycle link to the north that would be fantastic,’’ he said.
‘‘Even if the university wanted this [Falder Place car park site] to be the entry, it’s not possible – the land level and the freeway level has a huge drop between them, so it’s not feasible.’’
If approved, the new northern car park development would include a stormwater drain, as well as lighting and security cameras, according to planning documents.
Mr Flint said it would help to make up the car spaces which were lost to the development of a new science teaching facility near the University Recreation and Aquatic Centre.
‘‘Basically the university is reorganising itself a little bit, pushing some of the car parks to the perimeters and reclaiming a few spots on the inside of the ring road,’’ Mr Flint said.
‘‘We try to keep the inside of the the ring road more pedestrian friendly.’’
He said the new car park would only provide about 30 extra spaces, which was ‘‘a drop in the ocean considering we’ve got about 3000 car parks on campus’’.
He also emphasised car travel was ‘‘not the university’s preferred mode of transport’’ and said it was much more interested in getting staff and students to use public transport.
‘‘We’ve been working on a new bus interchange out on Northfield Avenue, and that’s where the university is investing far more money and infrastructure,’’ he said.