It is “full steam ahead”, builders say, on the biggest change to Woden Town Centre in 50 years, the Woden Canberra Institute of Technology campus, being constructed on the site of the old Woden bus interchange. The development application has been approved, the first ground slab was poured yesterday, and a crane is towering over the town centre.
“We’re seeing the transformation of Woden Town Centre from a few commercial buildings and a sea of carparks to one that has a mixture of residential, commercial, retail, but also a place for people to study and learn through the CIT campus,” said Chris Steel, ACT Minister for Skills.
The campus is expected to open in the second half of 2025, and be attended by 6,500 students.
“It will be a place of learning when it is completed, but it is a place of learning now,” Mr Steel said.
Apprentices are employed on site, among them school-based apprentices, 15 women, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers.
When CIT staff and students move to Woden in 2025, Mr Steel said, the University of NSW will turn CIT’s Reid campus into a new university campus.
Over the coming months, Ben Owen, general manager of construction company Lendlease, said, workers will pour 8,000 cubic metres of concrete, tie 800 tonnes of reinforcing steel, and install 4,000 cubic metres of mass engineered timber. About 2,500 people will contribute to the construction of the project, with a peak workforce of around 350.
The ground slab that was poured yesterday will be the foundation of basement car parks for the facility. Next month, a concrete slab will be poured to support the North Pod of the building, where hairdressing and beauty therapy, creative design, media and music will be taught.
Another tower crane will come next month, too.
A new light rail ready interchange will be used by both buses and light rail. The ACT Government allocated $50 million in the recent Budget for deign work on light rail stage 2B.
“We’re building stops now ready for light rail in the future so that we don’t have to tear up the interchange again,” Mr Steel said.
The old Woden interchange, built half a century ago, was “a concrete jungle” that felt unsafe, Mr Steel said. In its place, the CIT campus will be green, have better passive surveillance, and be somewhere people can meet.
However, a proposed new slow speed local access street between Bradley and Bowes Streets – a shared zone cutting through the CIT boulevard – has met with local opposition. Cycling advocacy group Pedal Power ACT and the Woden Valley Community Council worry it would be dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists, and ruin any potential of turning this area into a vibrant public space.
But, Mr Steel said, the street would be safer and provide more access to both the campus and the interchange – a view shared by the Public Transport Association of Canberra.
Ryan Hemsley, its chair, said the road would have far more of a shared zone feel; traffic would go very slowly, so it would be safe for pedestrians; it would ensure buses were reliable and flowed smoothly; and it would connect Woden Library through to Woden Town Park. It was consistent with PTCBR’s recommendations.
“Where we’ve landed is actually a good outcome of community consultation,” Mr Hemsley said.
