The long-campaigned for and long-promised light rail stop at the Sandford Street and Flemington Road intersection in Mitchell will be built this year as part of $35 million in infrastructure projects to be announced by the federal and ACT governments on Monday.
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Business owners in Mitchell have been campaigning for the stop to be included for more than three years, saying they weren't adequately consulted when decisions were made about the original stops.
The new stop will have a $12 million price tag, with the federal and ACT governments committing $6 million each.
The ACT government has already committed funding to the new stop, $150,000 as part of the 2018 budget for design work and $4.8 million in last year's budget. After more detailed design work, the final cost was found to be $12 million.
Construction is expected to start later this year and be completed early next year. ACT Transport Minister Chris Steel said the design work was already under way.
Building the stop had been slated to be part of contracts for the construction of stage 2A of light rail from Civic to Commonwealth Park, but has been prioritised as part of the stimulus measures.
Other projects include $10 million to install traffic lights at four intersections across the ACT, $10 million to re-surface Northbourne avenue and $3.2 million for safety projects including safety barriers, uninterrupted power supply for traffic lights and a variable speed limit system for the Tuggeranong Parkway between Cotter Road and the Glenloch interchange.
The intersections to get traffic lights are Belconnen Way and Springvale Drive in Hawker, Southern Cross Drive and Starke Street in Holt, Launceston Street and Irving Street in Phillip and Kuringa Drive and Owen Dixon Drive in Evatt.
Northbourne Avenue will be re-surfaced northbound between Condamine Street and Mouat Street and southbound between Mouat Street and Macarthur Avenue.
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All of the projects will be funded by equal contributions by the territory and federal governments.
Bringing forward the projects, some of which have already been on the table, is part of stimulus measures to support the construction industry as governments try to blunt the effects of the recession caused by coronavirus.
"Partnering with state and territory governments to invest in more major infrastructure projects across Australia is a key part of our JobMaker plan to rebuild our economy and create more jobs," Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.
"This funding injection means we have brought forward or provided additional funding of $48 million to the ACT in the past eight months."
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the spending would create jobs.
"This jointly funded package is about bringing forward pipeline of transport infrastructure projects across the territory that will create jobs over the next year of the recovery," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the federal government had been working with state and territory governments to identify projects that were ready to be started.
"This package sees the government stepping up our economic response to lay the foundations for recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic," Mr McCormack said.
ACT Senator Zed Seselja said this announcement built on a series of commitments for the city.
"Today's announcement builds on our $100 million commitment to both the Monaro and Barton Highways, $20 million for William Slim drive, and $30 million for the Kings Highway," he said.
What's in the $35 million:
- $12 million for light rail stop in Mitchell
- $10 million to resurface parts of Northbourne Avenue
- $10 million to install traffic lights at four intersections across Belconnen and Woden
- $400,000 for uninterrupted power supply for traffic lights
- $850,000 for road safety barriers
- $350,000 for a variable speed limit system on the Tuggeranong Parkway