Motorists are set to face more disruptions on Northbourne Avenue, with the ACT government planning to resurface a stretch of the busy thoroughfare when the light rail is complete.
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The northbound lane of the section between Macarthur Avenue, O'Connor, and Mouat Street, Lyneham, has shown "considerable deterioration" and needs to be relaid to avoid more significant and costly remediation in the future, according to new government tender documents.
The documents suggest there are similar problems across Canberra's wider road network, with road surfaces deteriorating at a quicker rate than they can be repaired.
The Northbourne Avenue project is set to frustrate motorists, particularly commuters from Gungahlin who have battled traffic delays caused by works on the light rail and the Gundaroo Drive duplication.
The consultant would be required to assess the condition of the road before completing designs for the upgrade as part of a $600,000 contract.
The contractor will also need to factor in repairs to damage cause by work on the light rail, including to trench crossings along Northbourne Avenue.
The tender said ongoing maintenance work along the city gateway had failed to slow deterioration in the road's condition.
It said a major resurfacing of Northbourne Avenue had been postponed due to construction on the light rail line.
But with the Civic-Gungahlin line set for completion early next year, the work should not be delayed any further. If it was, the government would be forced to fund a more complex and expensive fix in the future, according to the tender.
"Further postponement of the pavement rehabilitation to this major arterial road would cause more damage to the underlying structural pavement and thus would require the more costly full-depth reconstruction," the documents said.
It said the problem was not unique to Northbourne Avenue, with traffic volumes and Canberra's combination of extreme hot and cold weather causing the territory's roads to decay quicker than they could be repaired.
The successful consultant was expected to submit designs for the Northbourne Avenue project by July 2019.
A spokesman for the government's transport and city services directorate said works would follow the completion of the light rail project, but would not disclose a specific timeline or cost for the resurfacing.
The spokesman said construction would be done during off-peak periods and might include night works.
It would force some temporary closures.
The spokesman said a decision on whether further sections of Northbourne Avenue would be upgraded was subject to further investigation.
The partial closure of the Macarthur Street Street to Mouat Street Street section will frustrate motorists, who have been slowed by almost constant roadworks during their city commute for much of the past two years.
Gungahlin residents have faced constant roadblocks on their commute amid ongoing work on the light rail and the $31 million Gundaroo Drive upgrade.
Stage one of the duplication project has run almost 18 months behind schedule, prompting the ACT government to call in external auditors to examine the delay.
Gunghalin Community Council president Peter Elford said the government should schedule the Northbourne Avenue resurfacing works around quiet periods, such as school holidays, to minimise disruptions to commuters for Canberra's north.
"We appreciate that there has to be ongoing maintenance to our infrastructure, but all we would ask is that there was a bit of thought into when it occurred," Mr Elford said.
