ACT Opposition slams roadworks timing

By DIANA BUSHBY
THE timing of multiple road works in Canberra has been attacked by the ACT Opposition.

Eight road works are taking place and six more are scheduled in coming months.

With the capital’s roads already at capacity, the ACT Opposition thinks the timing should have better suited motorists.

“It’s always good to see upgrades to infrastructure but it would have been nice I think if the territory government had have scheduled it better so that we don’t have so many things happening at the same time,” the Shadow Minister for Transport Services, Alistair Coe, said. “It doesn’t matter where you are in Canberra at the moment you are affected by road works and they are causing significant delays.”

The 2009/2010 Capital Works Project plans to complete 14 road works over 14 months, aiming to ease traffic congestion and improve road conditions.

Director of Roads ACT Tony Gill said the program would take time but it was necessary they were done all at once because they were serving different purposes.

“The challenge we have is to manage the overall impact on the public.” Mr Gill said Some of the worst areas are Jerrabomberra Avenue, the Monaro Highway and the Glenloch Interchange, where delays and traffic jams are common in peak hours.

Mr Coe said, “Given the vast majority of Canberran’s do use those roads, I think it’s having a huge impact on our productivity of the city.”

Motorists are being urged to catch public transport and in response, ACTION has changed and diverted affected routes.

ACTION buses are facing delays but it varies day to day.

The acting general manager of ACTION, said, “Because it’s not every day exactly the same, it’s just one of those things, we are just asking people to be patient. “They understand there’s not much we can do. . . . Admittedly it can be frustrating. We are encouraging people to get an earlier service, or get to work a little earlier, or after the peak.”

Mr Gill said generally people had been surprisingly tolerant and Roads ACT had not been inundated with complaints.

But Mr Coe said residents did not have an option but to be patient.

“I think Canberran’s are being patient, but really Canberran’s don’t have a deal of choice . . . ,” he said. “I don’t think many people in Canberra are terribly happy with the timing of it.”

Road works will remain a fixture in the capital until at least the middle of 2012, when the last project is estimated to be completed.