Site compounds for the second stage of light rail are to be established later this week before work begins to relocate utilities on the route.
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Transport Minister Chris Steel said the COVID-19 lockdown had slowed capital works projects in the ACT.
"With projects that have been in the design phase, there hasn't been as significant an impact on those projects going forward," Mr Steel said.
Mr Steel on Wednesday announced a $12 million light rail stop at Sandford Street, Mitchell, co-funded by the Commonwealth and territory governments, had opened.
"We're not expecting it to have a huge passenger numbers initially, but once that future suburb of Kenny comes online, we're expecting it to be used by many residents as well as the Mitchell businesses, who are really supportive of this project," he said.
The stop, the 14th on the route, will add an extra 35 seconds to travel times, but the light-rail timetables had already been adjusted at the beginning of the year to reflect this.
The stop was in the original plans for Canberra's first stage of light rail, but it was dropped after government-run consultation found the public did not want them.
The 2018-19 ACT budget included $150,000 to design the Mitchell light rail stop, after months of lobbying from the Mitchell Traders' Association.
The ACT and Commonwealth governments committed $6 million each to the project as part of a stimulus program.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
