Recently, Launceston Street and Callam Street were closed for the construction of the Woden Light Rail terminus. The construction of the CIT will follow. Until 2025, Callam Street will remain a construction site, and when it opens, will be accessible to buses only. During the construction, the area will be less permeable for cyclist, but should be better afterwards.
Category Archives: urban planning
Cycling is the most sustainable and healthy way to move around our cities. Our cities are not efficient machines but rather nice places for people to live. Let us make Canberra better for people.
Is TCCS future proofed?
TCCS has grown overtime to have capability for the type of things that were needed in the past. The ACT is no exception to this rule. In the post-war era, the fashion was to build roads. Since COVID, this has begun to swing in a different direction. Even Sydney – Australia’s car capital – has come to realised that cycle and pedestrian infrastructure is a priority. TCCS may follow suite. Is the TCCS workforce prepared to take on this role?
Lake Ginninderra bike path: ready for a refresh
Lake Ginninderra was finished in 1974. 48 years later, it is time for renewal. The path around the lake existed goes back to the early 1980s and has now reached end of life. This article includes photos showing the path cracked and decaying. Lake Ginninderra Feasibility Study listed many defects and not one section of the path is particularly good. If we would serious we would fix the path as one big project but a series of little fixes is more likely – and that will take much longer.
History of the Belconnen Bikeway
The need for better infrastructure in Belconnen Town Centre goes back a long way. Back in 2004, it was quite clear that the lack of cycle infrastructure in the Belconnen Town Centre need fixing. As the 2016 ACT Election rolled up, ACT Labor was finally prepared to do something about it. Delays followed. The original planned completion date of 2019 became the construction start date. With the arrival of the 2020 ACT Election, the project was still not completed, and the scope significantly reduced. It is now finished, in part.
National Capital Authority: role in Canberra
The ACT is unusual as territories and states go, We have the ACT Legislative Assembly but the National Capital Authority too. A large area of the ACT is under a form of collaborative administration. Famously, the ACT Territory Plan cannot be inconsistent with the National Capital Plan (NCP). This does not make the interests of the ACT Government and NCA the same but necessitates a complex and close relationship.
History of Lawson 2003-2022
Belconnen District is more than 40 years old, but some parts were left green for later development. One of them is the new suburb of Lawson, which is situated beside Lake Ginninderra and has until now remained untouched. The suburb development started with Stage 1, opposite the University of Canberra (UC), and now has moved down Ginninderra Drive with the tender for Stage 2.
History of Sulwood Drive 2003-2022
The missing cycle path along Sulwood Drive between Tuggeranong Parkway and Athllon Drive has a long history. Letters to the Minister and Roads ACT go back as far as 2003. Labor promised a path for Sulwood Drive at the 2019 Federal Election, and ACT Labor reaffirmed this at the 2020 ACT Election. Funding was included for the path in the ACT 2021-2022 Budget.
Fast Track: fading glory
Some boast about Canberra’s bike paths, but what we see is the product of past investment. In the recent past, the network development has largely stagnated. There is no indication that the investment in cycling infrastructure is rising to meet the challenges and active travel opportunities ahead.
Heysen Street Link history
The Heysen Street Link was promised at the 2016 ACT Election, came up again at the 2019 Federal election, but it was not until 2020 that the construction of the Heysen Street Link was announced. In the end, it took about 5 years to build, with funding from Fast Track and the expanded scope for the Woden Renewal. The path width varies along its length and a bit of the path is still missing passes the Lyon shops.
Kuringa Drive: no gain without pain
The history of Kuringa Drive shows how 2 decades can pass and a problem persists. If we are lucky, we will see small but incremental improvement. Kuringa Drive made little progress until the Owen Dixon Drive was identified under the Federal Government Block Spot as a dangerous intersection. Only then, did the ACT decide theyContinue reading “Kuringa Drive: no gain without pain”
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