Artist impression of the Atkins Street and Langdon Avenue intersection, looking south towards the Tuggeranong Town Centre. Photo: Supplied.
Duplication of Athllon Drive between Sulwood Drive and Drakeford Drive will include allowances for future light rail infrastructure, along with new bus stops and improved access to cycling paths.
There are two remaining unduplicated sections of the road, with a development application notified for a 2.4 km stretch.
This project includes a new underpass “to provide a free-flowing active travel route” from the C4 walking and cycling path under Sulwood Drive, part-time traffic lights on the Athllon Drive/Sulwood Drive roundabout, new bus stops in the vicinity of the underpasses between the Sulwood Drive and Langdon Avenue/Atkins Street intersections, new traffic lights, rebuilding the southbound Park and Ride bus stop on the duplicated carriageway, widening and upgrading of exisitng underpass bridges, and water quality measures to reduce pollution from water run-off from Athllon Drive to Lake Tuggeranong.
The development application documents noted up to 2000 vehicles used this particular section of road per hour during peak periods, and that congestion was expected to increase as a result of the rezoning of the Woden District and ongoing developments in Greenway.
Improvements for active travel, public transport and future light rail construction have all been taken into consideration in the plans.
“This corridor has been identified as the Inter-Town Public Transport Route and is therefore the proposed alignment for the future extension of light rail to Tuggeranong,” the documents stated.
“As part of enabling works outside the scope of this DA, the existing Principal Community Route 4 (C4) path will be widened to 3 metres and path lighting installed. This upgrade aims to promote greater use of the active travel network and enhance safety for both pedestrians and cyclists.”
It’s proposed that demand-activated traffic lights should be added to the existing Sulwood Drive roundabout to better manage congestion.
“It is predicted that future traffic queues for this intersection will extend for over a kilometre during peak times if this intersection does not receive adequate traffic control,” DA documents stated.
“[Proposed traffic] signals will be triggered only when traffic volumes reach a threshold that causes the level of service on any approach to fall below acceptable standards. This is expected to only be during am and pm peak periods.”
The two-lane roundabout at the intersection of Atkins Street and Langdon Street will be demolished and replaced with traffic lights.
Artist impression of the Vosper Street Intersection, looking south towards the Tuggeranong Town Centre. Photo: Supplied.
Traffic lights would also be added to the Fincham Crescent and Vosper Street intersections.
The two new bus stops would be located between the Atkins Street/Langdon Avenue intersection and the Sulwood Drive Roundabout.
“The active travel network within the project boundary will be enhanced, including a new active travel (ie, for use by pedestrians and cyclists) underpass to be constructed under the western leg of the Sulwood Drive roundabout,” documents stated.
“The existing bridge underpass structures along the project corridor will be widened to accommodate the carriageway duplication, including the provision of safety barriers.”
The project area has been identified as a potential habitat for Gang-gang cockatoos and Superb Parrots, where they may forage and nest.
But an environmental significance opinion stated the works are unlikely to have a large environmental impact.
“The proponent measured all tree hollows located within the project area to identify those suitable for Gang Gang nesting. Of the 11 trees found to contain suitable nesting hollows, only two will be removed, both of which were ranked as low priority for retention,” it stated.
“Because of the large number of Mature Native Trees retained in the project area, the presence of thousands of advanced immature trees and extensive compensatory planting, the project is not considered to represent a significant contribution to a Key Threatening Process, and impacts to connectivity and foraging opportunities for Gang-gang Cockatoos and Superb Parrots will be minimal.”
There are 3505 trees in the project’s development area, with 319 proposed to be removed. Of these, 39 are considered mature native trees, and two are hollow-bearing.
It’s proposed 642 native trees will be planted as part of the project.
Enabling works finally began on this section of the duplication earlier this year and $6.8 million has been set aside for the project in the 2025/26 ACT Budget.
The project was first promised in the lead-up to the 2016 ACT election.
Community feedback on the development application closes 3 September.
