Page 1471 - Week 05 - Thursday, 7 May 2015
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Indeed, my office, Canberra Connect and Roads ACT receive ongoing and regular feedback on a range of issues. Such issues are thoroughly investigated and low cost safety treatments such as changes to signage or line marking are progressed utilising existing funds. Also, minor new works program funding for more costly treatments such as traffic signals and roundabouts is sought through the capital works program.
Madam Speaker, I support National Road Safety Week and share the responsibility for road safety.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Roads—Constitution Avenue
Ministerial statement
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Planning, Minister for Roads and Parking, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations, Minister for Children and Young People and Minister for Ageing) (10.34), by leave: Walter Burley Griffin envisioned the growth and success of Canberra’s city centre—seeing it become a diverse, cosmopolitan and active hub. Our city is indeed fulfilling this vision, with its density increasing and key projects being realised to support its change and growth. I am proud to be able to speak today about one of the major projects that is key to the vision—the Constitution Avenue upgrade.
Constitution Avenue is a 2.5 kilometre road reserve connecting Vernon Circle in the city through to Northcott Drive in Russell. The existing road currently starts at Knowles Place, the access road to the Legislative Assembly car park. To celebrate the centenary of the establishment of Canberra the federal government provided $42 million under the 2011-12 federal budget to undertake the redesign and reconstruction of Constitution Avenue. Constitution Avenue is a key element of the Walter Burley Griffin plan and, as the base of the national triangle, it is significant in the implementation of the Griffin legacy. Its importance in the physical structure of the city should not be understated.
The long-term vision for Constitution Avenue was always more than a strategic road corridor, with the objective being to create an appealing urban space for moving through, working in and socialising. The upgrade of Constitution Avenue will provide major public transport, active transport and landscape improvements for the community. Essentially it will make where people live better, which is what urban renewal is all about. Urban renewal is also about making the most of opportunity—opportunities that exist by working in close partnership with industry, for example, to deliver greater densification around those centres of community, making them more livable, more accessible, more vibrant and, importantly, viable.
Prioritising urban renewal also means we need to maximise the opportunities presented by the significant government investment being made in a truly integrated transport network for our city, to which investment in roads and better public transport, including light rail, are key. It is about looking to our major transport corridors, whether between Gungahlin and the city or, closer to my home, between Tuggeranong, Woden and the city, and leveraging our investments in those corridors to deliver urban renewal.
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