Page 2890 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 14 August 2018
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budget offers a further extension, with funding for the duplication of William Slim Drive. This will include 3.2 kilometres of new carriageway. This extension provides a dual carriageway connecting the Belconnen and Gungahlin town centres. The William Slim Drive extension also includes 6.4 kilometres of new on-road cycle lanes and a new bridge over Ginninderra Creek. Cyclists traveling along the corridor connecting Belconnen and Gungahlin will also benefit from investments being made to cyclepaths in and around the Belconnen town centre.
Stage 2 of the duplication of Horse Park Drive continues to near completion. Having already completed stage 1 between Well Station Drive and Anthony Rolfe Avenue, work on the duplication of Horse Park Drive from the Federal Highway to Katherine Avenue west is expected to be finished by the first quarter of 2019. The expanded road capacity and traffic flow measures along Horse Park Drive will provide for greater connectivity for those in the eastern and northern suburbs of Gungahlin with the town centre. With links to the Federal Highway and the Majura Parkway, it also speeds up traffic flows coming in and out of the region.
Of course, we all await the commencement of light rail services in the ACT. An ABC news article on 3 April 2017 by Elise Scott listed a comprehensive tram network as one of the coolest things in Griffin’s original plan for Canberra in 1912 that were never implemented. It took us over 100 years but we are finally delivering on this part of Walter and Marion’s vision for our city.
With the introduction of the light rail, Gungahlin will see significant change to the way we travel in and out of the city. Light rail services every six minutes during peak times and 10 to 15 minutes in off-peak times, the capacity to carry more than 200 people and the number of cars and buses taken off the road along that corridor during peak hour will cut travel time for everyone between Gungahlin and the surrounding areas and the city.
Upon completion, the connectivity between Gungahlin and Belconnen will benefit all road users, whether they travel by car, bus or bicycle. The increased capacity of major thoroughfares within Yerrabi will better support Canberra’s new public transport system, as well make active travel safer and more appealing. The improvements to roads coming in and out of Yerrabi will help residents connect with our city more easily. And the light rail from Gungahlin to the city marks the city realising its potential and investing in the capacity needed to do just that—a comprehensive plan for a growing city with growing needs.
When you play host to the second fastest growing region in the country, you need a plan. You need to be responsible and resist populist politics that create budget black holes and you need to ensure revenue is available to deliver expanded services to increase the capacity of our roads, to provide an integrated transport network for all Canberrans and to connect and engage a community as diverse and creative as that in Yerrabi.
Only ACT Labor has the vision, the commitment and the passion to deliver this to the people of Canberra. Only ACT Labor is capable of planning, implementing and delivering an integrated transport system for all Canberrans.
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