Page 4551 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 31 October 2018
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MR STEEL: I thank Ms Orr for her question. Earlier this month I announced the start of the ACT government’s annual road resurfacing program. Road resurfacing is an important part of the maintenance of Canberra’s roads. It involves sealing small cracks and imperfections. This improves road safety and extends the overall life of the underlying road pavement in the ACT road network.
Our $16 minion road resurfacing program will see approximately 230 kilometres or one million square metres of roads resurfaced across the ACT road network. This represents a size comparable to 140 football fields. The road resurfacing will take place across the ACT, with more extensive works taking place in Garran, Kambah, Phillip, Red Hill, Campbell, Charnwood, Higgins, Holt, Latham, Macgregor, Melba, Page, Scullin and Turner.
In addition to road resurfacing, works will include 100,000 square metres of other resurfacing works, such as asphalt overlays and micro surfacing. This year’s road resurfacing will trial an exciting new material, Plastiphalt, which uses recycled material and ensures that the equivalent of 800 plastic bags, 252 glass bottles and 18 used printer toner cartridges do not end up in our landfills. The Plastiphalt trial will take place on existing sections of Horse Park Drive and Gundaroo Drive. The road resurfacing program began in suburbs around Tuggeranong and will be completed by April 2019.
MS ORR: Minister, could you please explain this year’s trial of Plastiphalt?
MR STEEL: I thank Ms Orr for her supplementary. In this year’s annual road resurfacing program, I am very pleased that the ACT government is trialling the exciting innovation of Plastiphalt. Plastiphalt is a material composed of recycled glass and soft plastics. It is a cutting-edge technology that repurposes plastic into road material and reduces plastic pollution.
Every tonne of Plastiphalt, as I have mentioned, uses around 800 plastic bags and also glass from 252 glass bottles. For every tonne of Plastiphalt laid, this is material that will not go into landfill, which is an initiative that will reduce waste and promote the sustainable use of waste. Further to that, 300 kilograms of recycled asphalt is also used for every tonne of Plastiphalt.
The trial will take place on the existing sections of the roads that I mentioned. I look forward to seeing the outcome of the trial.
MR PETTERSSON: Minister, how will the work impact on commuters?
MR STEEL: I thank Mr Pettersson for his supplementary and for his interest in roads. The ACT government wants to ensure that there is minimal impact on Canberrans in their daily commutes to work or home. That is why works will be carried out during off-peak times and at night to reduce the impact on road users. You may have already seen some workers working on the road resurfacing at night time on your streets.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video