Light rail will likely use the eastern side of State Circle to get to Woden, Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris has said, as she confirmed her once-preferred route via Barton would most probably be ditched in favour of the more direct track.
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Cabinet is yet to make a formal decision on dropping the Barton dogleg, however Ms Fitzharris said the government did "now view a more direct route as the most likely route to Woden".
It follows the federal government's endorsement of a parliamentary committee's recommendation that the ACT instead pursue the route already set out in the National Capital Plan for intertown public transport, instead of cutting across the Parliamentary Triangle on the way to Woden.
While Ms Fitzharris initially resisted the recommendation, insisting the government would continue to pursue the Barton route as it had been endorsed by a community survey, she said now the government did not see it as a "viable option".
"At that time the route through Barton came back pretty clearly from a number of stakeholders and the community as the preferred route, but that has clearly changed as the conversation about light rail in the ACT continues," Ms Fitzharris said.
"Our view now is we want to get light rail to Woden built; we’re looking at a range of options for a more direct route and we think that going around the eastern side of Parliament House on State Circle is the more likely route."
Inner South Canberra Community chair Marea Fatseas said the community needed to have more information in order to endorse one route over the other.
"Community engagement on integrated land use and transport is needed before construction of the light rail begins, not at the end as was the case for light rail stage one," Ms Fatseas said.
"For example, does [the government] plan to sell the sporting fields next to the Mint to enable urban intensification along the light rail stage two route? It already plans urban intensification, probably a new suburb, on what is currently the Curtin horse paddocks.
"To enable the community to come to an informed view, we need to know the costs/benefits of these different options."
The government previously said passenger modelling for the Barton route versus the more direct route was comparable, although there were more "places of employment and interest" in Barton.
Ms Fitzharris said the government would seek to have "very early discussions" with an incoming federal government regarding light rail stage two, and lodge an Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Referral by mid-year.
She said the territory was yet to make a decision about the removal of the near-century old Weston trees on Commonwealth Avenue, as they were still determining whether light rail would travel down the median or on the road for that part of the route.
If the Weston trees had to be cut down though, Ms Fitzharris said they would continue the approach of stage one where "not only did we replace all the trees, but we planted more".
Asked how switching to the direct route would affect passenger numbers, Ms Fitzharris said the start of the first stage of light rail next month would likely encourage people to consider using the system.
She also said the light rail was only one part of an integrated public transport network, which included buses as well as walking and cycling infrastructure.
Asked whether the more direct route would be cheaper, Ms Fitzharris said "not necessarily".
"We’re doing some work on that and obviously it depends on the final route and obviously it also depends on the Commonwealth processes," she said.
"One small concern I have is around works approval processes needing to go to an inquiry.
"For example, what that would mean is every DA needing to go through a parliamentary committee process is not something that’s workable, but I’m confident we can work with the Commonwealth and the National Capital Authority on a workable solution to approval processes when we get to that details stage."
