The ACT Government has released a tender for a design to upgrade Athllon Drive. 

Athllon Drive is a busy arterial road extending south from the Woden Town Centre, past the Mawson Group Centre, to the Tuggeranong Town Centre. Two rapid bus routes, cyclists, and nearly 2,000 vehicles use this road every hour during peak periods. The unduplicated sections of the road are bottlenecks which result in congestion, travel time delays, and reduced safety and amenity.

Works will be broken up into two stages. Stage one is the southern section between Sulwood Drive and Drakeford Drive, 2.4 kilometres long; construction will begin next year. Stage two is the northern section from Hindmarsh Drive to Melrose Drive adjacent to the Phillip Business District, 600 metres long; construction will begin in 2025.

“This is part of our plan to invest in Canberra’s transport corridors to cater for our growing population, supporting more jobs and making it easier to move people more efficiently and safely no matter how they travel,” said Chris Steel, ACT Minister for Transport and City Services.

“The duplication to increase the capacity and safety of the Northern section of Athllon Drive is moving ahead, with detailed design for the upgrades between Hindmarsh Drive and south of Melrose Drive now in market.

“Detailed design is already well underway on the first stage of the Athllon Drive upgrade program between Sulwood Drive and Drakeford Drive in Tuggeranong, to support the 14,000 vehicles travelling on this road each day.”

Proposed intersection upgrades, public transport, and active travel improvements and landscaping will be on display next year for public consultation before the planning approval process begins.

“We remain committed to delivering the duplication of Athllon Drive,” Mr Steel said. “The project supports Canberra’s integrated transport network in meeting the needs of future population growth and supporting a sustainable ACT for all Canberrans.”

The planned upgrade of the northern section includes additional lanes, bus priority measures, active travel and intersection improvements, including path upgrades to improve access to bus stops.

“We are augmenting the capacity of this road because it is a key public transport corridor, and the upgrades will support the new Woden bus depot as traffic on the corridor grows,” Mr Steel said.

“Congestion on our road network doesn’t just impact our road users – our public buses move through these corridors as well. Increased congestion reduces the efficiency of these services and therefore the desirability of using public transport. This is at the forefront of planning for these upgrades.”

“Early works to facilitate access to the new electric Woden Bus Depot, including at the intersection of Athllon Drive and Shea Street, will start in 2024 ahead of major works on stage two,” Mr Steel said.

“We welcome the commitment by the Federal Government to jointly fund the construction of these upgrades, and it’s great to see work progressing to deliver this project. 

“The investment being made across the ACT Government’s infrastructure program is providing thousands of jobs from the conception stages through to planning, design and construction as we continue building the important infrastructure our growing city needs.”

For more information and to stay updated on this project, visit www.cityservices.act.gov.au.