The state government has awarded a contract for the first of two multi-storey car parks at the proposed Women and Babies Hospital while also acknowledging issues with congestion.
Georgiou Group has been selected as contractor to design and construct the proposed western car park, with work due to commence this year.
The government also stated that the Department of Transport was “investigating improvements to transport networks to reduce congestion and enhance access to the Fiona Stanley Hospital precinct”.
“As part of these improvements, a precinct study is underway which will develop innovative solutions to enhance pedestrian and cyclist access, while encouraging greater use of public transport,” the government said.
Today’s update comes nearly two years after the state government unexpectedly switched the location of the Women and Babies Hospital from the QEII Medical Centre in Nedlands to a site (currently used as a car park) next to Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch.
At the time, the government claimed construction of a new hospital at Nedlands would cause too much disruption to existing facilities in the area.
The change was made despite numerous studies backing the Nedlands location and well-known issues with traffic congestion and parking shortages at the Murdoch site.
Today’s update was in a media statement misleadingly headlined “Construction to start this year on new Women and Babies Hospital”.
The statement said the two proposed car parks at the Murdoch site will deliver 2,200 bays.
Their estimated cost is $204 million.
They will be owned and operated by the state government.
If the new hospital was built at the Nedlands site, any new car parks would have been delivered by private company International Parking Group (IPG), which holds a 28-year contract to provide all car parks at the QEII site.
That deal, signed by the Barnett Liberal government, has in the past been criticised by Labor.
Health minister Amber-Jade Sanderson signalled last year the government would have sought to change that contract if it expanded at QEII.
“There was a lack of reasonable solutions to increase the parking at QEII without essentially resigning the state to hundreds of millions of dollars of contract breach,” she told a budget estimates hearing last year, without elaborating.
Premier Roger Cook said today: “we know how critical it is to get construction underway for thousands of more car bays”.
“The new car parks, along with associated road network improvements, will support enhanced access to this major health precinct and support local jobs during construction.”
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the government was also wanting to encourage alternatives to cars.
“We are also looking at innovative solutions to support increased pedestrian, cyclist and public transport use within the precinct,” she said.
If it wins the next state election, the Liberal Party has vowed to switch the Women and Babies Hospital back to its previous site in Nedlands.
A joint venture comprising global contractor Webuild and Australian construction company Roberts Co has been selected as managing contractor for the new hospital, which is budgeted to cost $1.8 billion.
They signed a letter of intent with the state government last month.
