The need for seven new road bridges in light rail stage two has prompted questions about the final cost of the project.
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But Chief Minister Andrew Barr says the prospect of large chunks of the project running wire free could be a greater financial burden.
While government documents propose vehicles run through civic and the Parliamentary Zone without overhead wires for heritage reasons, Mr Barr hopes this will ultimately only apply to a small section of the route.
The government decided to split the project in two, with approval processes for the section going through the Parliamentary Zone expected to be far more complex than the rest of the route.
Documents lodged with the federal government last week revealed stage two of light rail will require a number of road and pedestrian bridges.
It would need a new road bridge over Parkes Way, Lake Burley Griffin, a new Commonwealth Avenue bridge over Flynn Drive, new Adelaide Avenue bridges over State Circle and Hopetoun Circuit.
It will also require new pedestrian bridges to access the light rails stops over Adelaide Avenue and Yarra Glen as well as a new light rail bridge over Yarralumla Creek.
The road vehicle bridge from Yamba Drive to Melrose Drive will be removed.
The topography would need to be modified locally as the light rail can only operate on a slight slope. Other minor changes would be needed for the light rail to navigate existing bridges and traffic ramps within existing road reserves, the documents said.
Inner South Canberra Community Council chair Marea Fatseas said the group looked forward to transparent processes, and meaningful community engagement with local residents and organisations to address issues affecting them.
She said the the group wanted to see a cost benefit analysis of the route, considering the number of new bridges that would need to be built.
Mr Barr acknowledged the extra bridges and general complexities of stage two would increase the project's cost.
One of the biggest determinants of the cost will be the extent of the wire free operation
- Chief Minister Andrew Barr
"One of the biggest determinants of the cost will be the extent of the wire free operation," Mr Barr said.
"We'll be pushing very hard for that to be absolutely limited to only essential areas like, for example, going over Commonwealth Avenue bridge.
"We wouldn't want wire there but there are other parts of the route that I don't see any reason why you couldn't.
"There is [wire] at the movement in Civic so I don't see why that couldn't continue."
He said the comparable simplicity of the Gungahlin to Civic line was a key reason it started the project.
"I think it is becoming increasingly clearer to people why we chose the first stage.
"[It was] largely flat with not too many additional bridges required," Mr Barr said.
"That's part of the journey to Woden. If you throw your hands up and go 'well that's all too hard', nothing will ever happen. So we will press on. It was a commitment we took to the last election and we'll press on."