The loss of more than 230 public car spaces in Dickson will likely cause disruption for shoppers and businesses for many months to come, with the Coles development not slated for completion until the second half of 2023.
With the Woolworths car park closed alongside two sites in the CBD, the Canberra Business Chamber has called for more nuanced responses to minimise the impact on businesses.
Chief executive Graham Catt used the example of rule changes during lockdown, which allowed customers to pick up takeaway and not be fined.
"When major car parks close there needs to be flexibility, so we minimise the problems for both businesses and their customers," Mr Catt said.
He said even without the current and future car park closures, car parking was an issue for businesses everywhere.
"Braddon, Phillip, Kingston, Mitchell - the specifics are different but parking creates problems for businesses all over Canberra," Mr Catt said.
While Dickson Village will eventually replace the outdoor parking space with a multi-storey parking site, the potential long-term impact is currently being assessed by surrounding businesses.
Dickson Dumpling House manager Max Giang said parking was already a nightmare for customers on Friday and Saturday nights.
He said due to the Woolley Street upgrade work also under way at Cape Street it had become quite chaotic.
Mr Giang said staff usually parked outside of The Tradies and regularly had to drive around to Woolworths to stock up with supplies, which had become very difficult.
Inside the health practitioners hub, Capital Pathology have felt the impact, too, with elderly patients forced to park further away to get to their appointments.
Pathologist Keelin Howe said the closure of the car park had made their job "pretty messy" with patients leaving the line-up to move their cars and renew parking tickets.
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Ms Howe said some patients had started parking in spots reserved for doctors and nurses at neighbouring clinics, too.
"A lot of our patients are quite elderly and they're having to park on the other side of Antill Street," she said.
Ms Howe said staff, who were on minimum wage, had relied on the few free parks which had been available before construction began.
They were now having to walk further back to their cars after dark, she said.
Northsiders who attend after school swimming lessons at the Dickson pool are concerned parking close by to avoid carting children across roads will be virtually impossible during peak times.
The ACT government said it was working with pool management ahead of the pool's reopening in October.
There will be 22 parking spaces at a site designated for construction workers at Rosevear Place, which will be offered as long-stay spaces to Dickson businesses and organisations, a spokesman said.
Shoppers are encouraged to use the 212 long-stay car parks at the DKSN precinct, the 200 long and short parks at the multi-storey car park on Challis Street and the 32 short stay car parks at the Wilson car park, as well as on street parking in the area, ACT government said.
"While the Dickson Village project will result in the temporary loss of 237 public parking spaces, the completed development will have two levels of basement parking accommodating approximately 450 vehicles, nearly doubling available parking in Dickson," the spokesman said.
In response to criticism from Dickson Residents Group that developers had failed to adequately communicate its plans, TP Dynamics said the Dickson Village website and Facebook page had been updated frequently to provide details.
"We have used postcards to communicate with nearby residents and we recently held an information session for traders," development manager Lindsay Hunter said.
"Throughout the development period we will keep our website and Facebook site up-to-date."
To view the detailed parking map visit dicksonvillage.com.au.
