Corbell assures Molonglo residents they will experience road congestion due to poor planning by his government

'Yes we will see more congestion on roads here in Weston Creek and around the city' Simon Corbell.

The local ABC ran an item on its '7.30 report' on Friday Night looking at the new suburbs of Molonglo and the inadequate infrastructure in place to deal with a population expected to grow by a minimum of 15,000 within 5 years. It also looked at the concurrent infrastructure demands that would be felt by Weston Creek, as residents of Molonglo lacking any infrastructure of their own, sought access to services. 

These include: schooling, shopping, recreation (sport, swimming) and of course - transport. Tom Anderson, of the Weston Creek Community Council articulated clearly the lack of existing infrastructure in Weston Creek, and how his area will be expected to shoulder the burden. 

Clearly this government has learnt nothing from 20 years of serious problems arising from a lack of infrastructure in Gungahlin at its inception. ACT Light Rail have previously called for better public transport to be in place before residents begin to move into Molonglo. 

After looking at the lack of public transport infrastructure, the ABC report concluded with the following:

Reporter: "perhaps what Weston Creek needs is Light Rail ?"
Corbell "(nervous giggle)... I'll take that as a comment"

Competition to design Civic light rail terminal

Ask your kids to submit a design for this great competition! More details at the Canberra Loves 40% website. 

Darwin light rail $17 million a kilometre

The Australian Rail Association continue to hold the ACT Governments ludicrous costing of light rail at $870 million to scrutiny. In todays Canberra Times the ARA indicate that Darwin are considering light rail at a cost of $17 million per kilometre.

The full Canberra Times article can be read here. 

From the article:

"The peak rail industry group says Darwin's Lord Mayor, Katrina Fong Lim is pushing for light rail in the Northern Territory with costs of $17 million per kilometre."

The ARA says just like the ACT, land is available in the NT to accommodate light rail which helps keep project costs down. However, the ACT has still priced the potential 13 km light rail line at $66 million per kilometre, more than triple the estimates for Darwin.

"The Northern Territory mayor's announcement means every state and territory in Australia except the ACT has seen the light when it comes to light rail." says Mr Nye.

"One tram line can move 10,000 passengers an hour, while the same space dedicated to road moves only 800 cars or 140 bus services."

"Our local Government should be learning from the experiences in other jurisdictions," says Mr Nye."

“Sydney’s bus ways are creating parking lots throughout the city and after ripping up tram lines years ago, the city is now reinvesting in light rail to ease congestion. 

“Canberrans should be calling light rail as a long-term investment to improve the connectivity of the city,” concluded Mr Nye.