Page 1047 - Week 04 - Tuesday, 2 May 2006
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MR SPEAKER: If you find it so difficult to contain yourself, it might be an idea to go outside and gather yourself together before coming back in to listen to the question.
MS MacDONALD: The final part of the question is: does the minister expect any part of the GDE to be open to traffic in the near future?
MR HARGREAVES: Mr Speaker, I do not know what they have been smoking, but I want some! A consortium of three local contractors—Woden Contractors, Canberra Contractors and Guideline Contractors—is constructing the first package of works from the Barton Highway to Aranda. I consider that to be a fairly serious issue. We have a consortium of local people constructing the biggest roadworks project in the ACT’s history. There are 215 local construction workers employed there at the moment. I think that that is a congratulatory perspective and not one for mirth.
The first package covers the section of the Gungahlin Drive extension from the Barton Highway to Aranda and includes seven kilometres of new road carriageway, five bridges, 10 underpasses, 900,000 cubic metres of general earthworks, 4,000 cubic metres of rock excavation, 16,000 metres of cabling, and the planting of 80,000 native trees and plants. It is interesting that the native trees are, in fact, progeny of the trees which had to be removed for the road to go through. We are actually putting back the same family of tree, which I think is significant. It is something that the Save the Ridge people ought to acknowledge publicly, which they have not done as yet.
Mr Pratt: They have acknowledged that.
MR HARGREAVES: They have acknowledged absolutely nothing. Package A, which is for Barton Highway to Aranda, is expected to be completed by mid-2007. The tender for the main construction packages, which cover the section of the Gungahlin Drive extension from Aranda to the Glenloch Interchange, closed on 16 March this year. The preferred tenderer has been identified and negotiations are proceeding with a view to letting the contract by mid-May. The completion time for the entire project from the Barton Highway to the Glenloch Interchange is mid-2008, based on current information.
Some traffic delays have been experienced at the Belconnen Way-Caswell Drive intersection. This area is the main crossover point for heavy dump trucks. The contractor has been reminded of the importance of maintaining adequate traffic flows for all road users. It is very significant, if one goes through that rather difficult intersection, to see the bridge emerging from the ground. People can actually see tangibly what we are getting.
There still remains a large amount of fill to be moved. As of last March, 384,000 cubic metres remain to be relocated and that will take approximately 16 weeks. That equates to 25,500 loads plus 25,500 return trips. Bridgeworks are progressing well, with beams being erected over Ellenborough Street earlier this month and over Ginninderra Drive last Sunday.
The erection of the bridge beams over Ginninderra Drive is a significant step towards having the section between the Barton Highway and Ginninderra Drive open for traffic before the end of the year. The erection of the beams was a complex operation. The
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