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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 3 Hansard (10 April) . . Page.. 859 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

Over the years, as Belconnen has expanded and Gungahlin has developed, the traffic on this street has increased exponentially to the point where its impacts are felt widely across Lyneham in terms of traffic noise, vibration and fumes, never mind the impact on the people who live on Mouat Street, who have to battle to get out of their driveways every day. The intersections on Mouat Street, particularly those with Brigalow Street and Archibald Street, are very dangerous because of the volume of traffic, and many local residents go out of their way to avoid these intersections.

The GET study concluded that there was a need to protect local streets and residential areas in North Canberra from any further increases in traffic from Gungahlin and identified Mouat Street as a particular problem. It recommended that Ginninderra Drive be extended to Northbourne Avenue to minimise traffic infiltration through Lyneham, O'Connor and Turner. However, this recommendation was overturned by the joint parliamentary committee's review of the GET study, which took more notice of the sporting clubs in Southwell Park, which wanted to build a car park on the site of the road extension, rather than the views of the local residents - - -

MR SPEAKER: Order! It being 45 minutes after the commencement of Assembly business, the debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 77.

Motion (by Mr Berry) agreed to:

That the time allotted to Assembly business be extended by 30 minutes.

MS TUCKER: The committee recommended an alternative approach - that Mouat Street be widened to four lanes - which was picked up by the Government in the last couple of years but has been put on hold because of resident opposition. The Government has also proposed traffic lights at the intersection of Mouat and Brigalow streets, but this has also been opposed by local residents. It may seem odd that residents would oppose roadworks that may make this intersection safer. However, the residents think that this is not the best solution to the problem of Mouat Street. The Government's approach of just putting in traffic lights is very reactive and ad hoc and will not reduce the number of cars that rat-run through Lyneham and O'Connor; nor will it reduce the volume of traffic on Mouat Street.

To address residents' concerns, I have put forward this motion to ask the Planning and Environment Committee, as part of their inquiry into the John Dedman Parkway, to examine the existing traffic levels on Ginninderra Drive and Mouat Street, Lyneham, and to look at the benefits and costs of extending Ginninderra Drive to Northbourne Avenue. I believe that it is quite appropriate for this inquiry to look at this issue, because it is interrelated with the possible construction of the John Dedman Parkway, in that they both relate to addressing the traffic problems that are arising in North Canberra as a result of the development of Gungahlin. The Mouat Street issue and John Dedman Parkway were certainly seen to be related in the GET study, which was also the genesis of the current John Dedman Parkway study.

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