Page 3386 - Week 09 - Thursday, 24 August 2017
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know, I am a regular user of the 300 blue rapid. This new black rapid bus will make it quicker and easier to travel along an increasingly popular route, so that people like Sarah can spend less time on the bus each day and more time with their families and friends.
This budget also contains transport measures aimed at pedestrians and our elderly residents. Simple things like well-constructed footpaths, places to rest and kerb ramps all make it easier for older residents to stay healthy and maintain their independence as well as their connections to their local communities. Over a quarter of the residents of the Belconnen suburb of Page are aged 65 or older, one of the highest proportions in Canberra. So it is really important that the infrastructure in Page supports older Canberrans in getting around their suburb. This budget expands the age-friendly suburbs project to Page to upgrade walking infrastructure. The suburb will share $1.5 million with Hughes, in your electorate, Mr Acting Speaker, to improve things like footpaths, road crossings and traffic islands. Consultation with the community will help to guide this spending.
I am also very pleased that there is investment in the feasibility of looking into upgrading roads like William Hovell Drive, which is an incredibly important connection, as well as Bindubi Street.
This budget will improve transport infrastructure across all of Canberra. I know I have touched upon only a few measures today which are going ahead in my electorate of Ginninderra. However, I have no doubt that my constituents will also benefit from significant transport spending in other regions across Canberra as they travel across town for work, shopping, socialising and sport. And whether they are travelling by car, bus, bike, foot or light rail, this budget will make their transit an easier, more enjoyable ride.
MR COE (Yerrabi—Leader of the Opposition) (4.42): The work undertaken by TCCS has a very real impact on the everyday lives of people in the territory. The directorate has responsibility to provide high quality services to the community, putting Canberrans and their needs first. In 2017-18 the duties of TCCS include handling all municipal services including waste, parks, sportsground facilities and tree management, infrastructure maintenance such as footpaths, cycle networks and roads, provision of library services, acting as caretakers of our cemeteries, and the delivery of public transport infrastructure and the actual network itself.
The Canberra Liberals have a pretty clear stance on light rail. At $1.78 billion as the nominal cost, it is pretty hefty, when you consider that the BCR included only 49 cents in the dollar for transport benefits. However, of course, it is happening now. There is no doubt about that, as today’s paper demonstrates, with the rubber-epoxy installed on the first test track.
The agency has responsibility for stage 2 as well, and we want to do all we can to make sure that there is a sufficient level of scrutiny attached to that project. There are some significant threshold issues that have to be resolved. I touched on these last week, most notably, whether it is actually a commuter service which is trying to optimise the transport time for people travelling the full length of the route from
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