Gorge Road shopping precinct streetscape upgrade

City of Whittlesea is upgrading the streetscape and parking along Gorge Road to make your visit to the strip shops safer and more convenient.

Artist Impressions

• Construction of a raised pedestrian zebra crossing over Reid Street to provide safe access to shop fronts.
• Improved street lighting at the Reid Street and Gorge Road intersection.
• An expanded outdoor dining and trading area, with seating, dining tables, bins and bike racks.
• Sustainable and innovative garden beds passively irrigated by rainwater and street runoff, featuring:

• Eight new trees to enhance canopy cover and create shaded areas in front of the shops
• Understory plants in the garden beds to add greenery and biodiversity.

Yes, businesses at the Gorge Road Shopping Centre are open and operating as usual. Pedestrian access is available from the front of all shops, with additional access to some shops from the Reid Street car park.

Sufficient parking is available at the rear car park, accessible via Reid Street.

Changing the parking at the front of the shops from angled to parallel parking will stop people doing illegal turns into the parking bays and increase road user safety. The decrease in parking at the front is balanced by the upgrades to the gravel car park at the back, increasing spaces available at the rear of the complex.

No, all four lanes of Gorge Road will remain open during the construction. However, near the end of the project, one lane on the south side of Gorge Road may be closed for a couple of days to complete the new asphalt pavement.

The construction budget is confirmed for the 2024-25 financial year for the Reid Street car park and Reid Street park and playground. To avoid too many interruptions to residents and traders, the full car park will be upgraded after the Gorge Road streetscape construction.

To complete the raised crossing works, the intersection of Reid Street and Gorge Road will be closed to traffic and pedestrians. Detours will be in place during this time.

Yes, construction noise is to be expected. To minimise disruption to residents, traders, and road users, some works may need to be performed out of hours.

The City of Whittlesea has received $425,000 from the Growing Suburbs Fund towards this upgrade.

For more information about this project, please send an email to capitaldelivery@whittlesea.vic.gov.au