Stage 2: ACT Light Rail Project

The Property Council has welcomed news the ACT Government will prioritise getting Light Rail to Woden Town Centre as soon as possible by going via the more direct State Circle Route – and following the quickest approval path.

This follows a report from the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories in October, which warned of time delays and cost blowouts in getting the project approved if the Government chose to send light rail to Woden via Barton.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the State Circle Route represented a compromise between the two options voted on by the public earlier this year and would be the “path of least resistance” in getting the project fast tracked. A final decision will be made after next year’s Federal election when the make-up of the new Parliament becomes clear.

Adina Cirson, ACT Executive Director has said that “Stage two needs to be done as quickly as possible to provide certainty to developers in the Woden town centre, but also so a north-south public transport connection is in place as soon as possible.

“While we understand the importance of connecting Barton, we don’t believe compromising the fastest way to Woden is the best way of doing that.

“The new route sets up the possibility of using the Parliamentary Triangle as an interchange point to build future transport between the area of Kingston, Manuka and Canberra Airport.”

Read more here.