Page 2898 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 14 August 2018
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I know that this investment will have an enormous impact on residents across Canberra. I have spoken to many of my constituents who are eager to see additional funds being directed towards maintaining footpaths, cleaning Lake Ginninderra and managing graffiti around Belconnen.
A growing city needs to keep moving. Unlike a lot of major cities that have become heavily congested and polluted, Canberra is prepared. The ACT government is working to reduce congestion and help Canberrans move around safely and conveniently, with minimal environmental impact.
I am especially excited about the investment of $8.4 million over the next four years to upgrade intersections in my electorate of Ginninderra. I have had many conversations with Belconnen residents about how terrifying it can be to navigate the intersections of Ginninderra Drive and Tillyard Drive in particular, Tillyard Drive and Lhotsky Street, and Kuringa Drive and Owen Dixon Drive. When the sun is setting or during peak hour, driving through these intersections can be particularly dangerous. Together with all of my Ginninderra colleagues—it was bipartisan—we worked very hard on ensuring that these dangers were addressed.
The government has listened to the concerns of Belconnen residents and has delivered. The upgrades, which include traffic lights as well as additional lanes at the Kuringa Drive intersection, will make the intersections much safer to move through. To ease congestion in the future, the government will also be duplicating William Slim Drive from Ginninderra Drive to the Barton Highway. The 3.2 kilometres of new carriageway, 6.4 kilometres of new cycle lanes and a new bridge over Ginninderra Creek will make travel between Belconnen and Gungahlin much more convenient. I am excited that planning is underway with this budget announcement.
As you know, Madam Speaker, Canberrans are an active bunch. We like to walk and cycle more than any other community in Australia. I am glad that this government is doing more to invest in active travel infrastructure, and I am delighted that we will be allocating $10.5 million to build the Belco bikeway and upgrade the pedestrian connections and road intersections in the Belconnen town centre.
The Belco bikeway will connect the town centre to the University of Canberra and, importantly, it will make use of the old Joynton Smith busway, which is currently an eyesore and attracts unsavoury behaviour. Opening it up will completely change the look and feel of that part of the town centre, and bring residents living in Totterdell Street, Ranken Place and Morell Close back into the town centre. While this busway has been fenced off and boarded up, it has meant that we have two different parts of the town centre, and it has not been very nice for everybody. It has looked awful, and it has kept people from being able to move around the town centre more freely.
I have spoken to many members of the local community, especially residents living close to the old busway, and everyone is very supportive of this project, without exception. It is the result of extensive community consultation, which I helped to lead through the Belconnen town centre master plan process, and Belconnen residents’ views are going to continue to inform its development. Indeed many people have
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