The car stacker salesman had done his job well, recommending a car stacker system with a million-dollar + price tag.
My client, the developer of a ten-storey Richmond office building, had bought into the idea of using this system to create a more efficient car parking layout to gain approval for the level of floor area proposed.
The Problem:
They had justifiable concerns whether the car stacker would not only meet the needs of his development and tenants - but would the system be feasible?
And most importantly - what was our chance of council approval?
The car park was accessible via a lane way to the rear of the site with a residential interface on the opposite side, and a high peak-hour traffic to be facilitated. So there were a number of critical elements from a traffic engineering perspective that we needed to assess.
So the team brought me in at the start to make sure everything was fine.
The first port of call was recommending a 2nd transfer cabin, which moves the car into the system, which the supplier had suggested could be avoided to keep costs down.
These state-of-the-art car stackers also come with million-dollar price tags, so the developer didn't want just to jump straight in if there was going to be potential issues.
Our Solution:
Quantum Traffic helped with a feasibility assessment, queuing assessment and alternative solutions. Ultimately, once the decision was made to proceed with this system, the queuing and operational characteristics were assessed to determine if this system could actually facilitate the number of car spaces and level of traffic generated.
Other than the systems breaking down, we didn't want to have the issue of 6-8 cars queued up waiting to use the system, which is why the 2nd transfer cabin was designed into the system/development.
Ultimately, with succinct and accurate advice from the outset of the project, I'm happy to say we've achieved a Planning Permit through council.
For a development of this size and nature, with a residential interface, to get a Planning Permit through Council and avoid VCAT was a great result all involved.
And taking on a project of this side has also showed how we can handle larger scale developments and more complex traffic engineering & planning issues.
If you want an obligation free review of your project, whether it includes car stacker systems or not, feel free to get in touch. We are dynamic, highly responsive and provide accurate preliminary advice to keep your project on track.