Page 214 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 15 February 2012
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I wonder if Mr Coe has considered whether it is the lack of a car pool lane causing congestion issues or whether it is other issues such as the intersections on Barry Drive or the section of Barry Drive where the bus and car lanes merge into each other. I note that the government is prioritising the extension of the bus lane along Barry Drive, which is likely to make a much bigger difference for both buses and cars.
I would hope Mr Coe has noticed that there are bus stops along the Barry Drive bus lane and the upgrading of the Belconnen to city transit way also involves constructing new bus lanes at Barry Drive and new bus stops. This raises another question: do bus stops mean there are safety issues that need to be addressed if the lane was to also allow car travel since buses will be pulling in and out of the lane? Incidentally, this is one of the major differences between Adelaide Avenue and Barry Drive—Adelaide Avenue is an uninterrupted section of road with no stops, meaning buses are not stopping and starting.
I also would ask why Mr Coe has decided that it is only Barry Drive that should have the T2 priority and not the entire route from Civic to Belconnen. The government has been working on the Belconnen to city busway, and much of that has been built so that there is a dedicated busway connecting to Barry Drive, including Belconnen Way. Is it the Liberal Party’s position to turn this busway into a car pool lane for the entire length from Belconnen to the city, or is it just Barry Drive? If so, why is it only Barry Drive? This just highlights the ad hoc nature of this proposal.
I have to say it is quite concerning to think that Mr Coe would apply this approach to transport or planning if he was the minister. He would see that there was some busy traffic on a road with a bus lane—
Members interjecting—
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Mr Hargreaves): Order! Mr Smyth, Chief Minister, please. That will be enough.
Mr Coe interjecting—
MR ASSISTANT SPEAKER: Mr Coe, your name is on here. It might be on a leave application shortly. Ms Bresnan, you have the floor.
MS BRESNAN: Thank you, Mr Assistant Speaker. He would see that there was some busy traffic on a road with a bus lane and just decide on a whim to change it to a car pool lane. There is much more that needs to go into a decision like that rather than this ad hoc, thought-bubble approach.
As I mentioned, the motion presented today pre-empts work the Assembly has already asked the government to do on bus and transit lanes. We called for this work in a resolution by the Assembly in November last year. I remind the Assembly of that resolution. It asked the government to:
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