Under the 2022-23 ACT Budget, the ACT Government will upgrade five intersections, build more pedestrian crossings, and construct the second stage of the Belconnen Bikeway, to improve road safety and promote active travel, at a cost of more than $24 million.
The five intersections are on Canberra’s southside, located at Streeton Drive/Namatjira Drive; Streeton Drive/Heysen Street; Tharwa Drive/Lawrence Wackett Crescent; Tharwa Drive/Norman Lindsay Street; and Hume Circle which connects Canberra Avenue, Sturt Avenue, and Wentworth Avenue.
More than 20,000 vehicles use the road network each day between Weston Creek, Tuggeranong, and Woden, and the two Streeton Drive ‘seagull’ intersections have become increasingly busy with nearby development. New traffic lights will improve safe crossings options for pedestrians and vehicles, and the surrounding path network will be improved.
On Tharwa Drive, traffic lights will be installed at the intersection with Lawrence Wackett Crescent, and safety improvements will be funded at the Norman Lindsay Street intersection near Lanyon Marketplace following a feasibility study.
The Government will also design safety improvements at Hume Circle, which has one of the worst accident records for intersections in Canberra. All these works will be supported by joint funding from the Australian Government.
As part of the next two tranches of the national Road Safety Program with the Australian Government, the government will make it safer for students to walk and cycle safely to school.
Three new pedestrian crossings will be constructed near Gold Creek High School and Mary MacKillop College. A branch of the Belconnen Bikeway project will also be funded on Haydon Drive from Battye Street to Calvary Hospital. The ACT Government will propose co-funding the installation of audio tactile line marking and safety barriers on Brindabella Road.
“Our investment in infrastructure is focused on maintaining Canberra’s place as the most liveable in the world – attractive, safe, and easy to move around in,” Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.
Mr Barr said these works would add to the ACT Government’s major infrastructure pipeline, creating more good jobs as the government works towards its goal of 250,000 local jobs by 2025.
The government will also advocate for the ACT’s fair share of funding from the Australian Government for upgrades to Canberra’s regional roads. The 2022-23 ACT Budget proposes joint funding for upgrades on the unsealed sections of Boboyan Road within the Namadgi National Park. These upgrades will improve the safety of this regional connection for residents, park visitors, and emergency services. The local and federal governments are negotiating a fair funding split for these works, which reflects the approach to regional road upgrades taken in other jurisdictions (including the same road in NSW).
“The ACT Government welcomes continued investment in our city by the Australian Government to co-fund these urban road projects, but we strongly believe the ACT should receive the same share of funding for improvements for regional roads as other states,” said Chris Steel, ACT Minister for Transport and City Services.
