Businesses on Yambil Street have welcomed the start of the new upgrades, saying the ‘short-term pain’ will be worth the gain.
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With Stage One of the redevelopment already underway, council say some disruptions to business will come in the form of increased traffic volume and reduced on-road parking space due to partial street closures.
Remaining optimistic, Office Works manager Jeff Harris said while there may be some disruptions, it will be all worth it when the new-look Yambil Street is completed.
“It will be short term pain for long term gain,” Mr Harris said.
“It will bring Yambil Street up comparatively to Banna Avenue, which gives us a good opportunity to grow that retail market there.”
In an effort to minimise impact, additional parking is available on the top level of the Griffith Exies Club car park.
Council have assured businesses and the community informed as works progress, and retailers have been impressed with the “open dialogue” so far.
Owner of Mackay’s Furniture One Paul Mackay says they are ‘extremely impressed’ with the communication between shops and Griffith City Council during the process.
“I think it’s wonderful,” Mr Mackay said.
“We have had a lot of excellent communication and open dialogue with council, and we have no complaints. We don’t expect to have any major issues, they have it sorted fairly well.
“We went to the original planning meeting, and they’ve stuck to their schedule.”
In a letter to businesses, council say there may be a disruption to the telephone, internet, power or gas supply, however these have yet to be confirmed.
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Mayor John Dal Broi welcomed the onset of works, saying the upgrade will inject new life into Yambil Street, improving the streetscape, making shops easier to access and creating a more sustainable city centre for the future.
These first works will continue until the end of November when work will cease over the busy Christmas period to allow businesses to trade as normal.
Construction will recommence mid-January, with Stage One expected to be complete in time for Easter 2019.
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