The following formal submission have been made public
Submitter: Public Transport Association of CanberraComments
The Public Transport Association of Canberra (PTCBR) appreciates the opportunity to provide this submission to the approvals for the Light Rail Stage 2A (LRS2A) project.
PTCBR is a strong supporter of light rail. It is a tried, tested, and popular mode of transport that is best placed to meet Canberra's needs as our city grows towards a population of 800,000 and beyond.
This submission provides our views on the plans for LRS2A, as presented on websites of the National Capital Authority (NCA) and the ACT Planning and Land Authority (ACTPLA). Our five recommendations are as follows:
Recommendation 1: the Light Rail Stage 2A project should be approved by the NCA and ACTPLA
Recommendation 2: the Light Rail Stage 2A project should respond to the future Acton Waterfront precinct
Recommendation 3: there should be additional bus priority measures to mitigate construction impacts, reduce journey times and increase network capacity
Recommendation 4: the journey time between Alinga Street and Commonwealth Park should be no more than six minutes
Recommendation 5: the Light Rail Stage 2A project should provide safe infrastructure for cyclists
Further details are provided in the remainder of this submission.
Recommendation 1: the Light Rail Stage 2A project should be approved by the NCA and ACTPLA
The LRS2A project is an extension of the highly successful first stage of light rail from Gungahlin to the City. It is also an important step towards extending the network south to Woden, which will add considerable and sorely needed capacity to Canberra’s public transport system.
Extending light rail to Commonwealth Park will provide significantly improved public transport options for residents, tourists, workers and students in Canberra’s City Centre. The proposed stations are in attractive locations that will
satisfy current and future public transport demand:
🡺 Edinburgh Avenue – This area has been poorly served by public transport, especially outside
business hours. Access to the Australian National University, City West and New Acton will be much
easier and convenient with the delivery of this light rail station.
🡺 City South – This station will serve workers on both sides of London Circuit, especially those in
City South-West, the future residents of the Acton Waterfront precinct, and the proposed
residential, commercial and entertainment developments in the City Hill precinct.
🡺 Commonwealth Park – This station will be a significant and attractive transport option for the
tens of thousands of Canberrans and tourists who visit events at Commonwealth Park, and the many
Canberrans that visit Lake Burley Griffin routinely for recreational purposes.
LRS2A will provide significant benefits to the Central National Area, including City Hill, West Basin, Commonwealth Park and Lake Burley Griffin, by improving access to these locations and reducing the reliance on private vehicles. This will enable the conversion of land currently
sterilised by surface car parks into new buildings and public spaces, bringing the Griffins’ vision of a lively, people-focused capital to life.
PTCBR understands that the plans for LRS2A have been discussed extensively with the NCA to ensure they meet the following non-negotiable design requirements for Commonwealth Avenue:
• irrigated grass median and verges with large canopy trees
• no reduction in lanes for general traffic
• no median safety barriers
With these requirements now met, we urge the speedy approval of the LRS2A project to enable the construction of this vital transport infrastructure to commence without further delay.
Recommendation 2: the Light Rail Stage 2A project should respond to the future Acton Waterfront precinct
PTCBR are aware that Major Projects Canberra (MPC) has been working closely with the City Renewal Authority and Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) to ensure LRS2A responds to the transport needs of the Acton Waterfront precinct. We believe further design refinements would future-proof LRS2A and improve its future connectivity with this important residential, recreational and entertainment district.
Additional exits for the Commonwealth
Park station
Commonwealth Park station will be the southern terminus of the light rail network until Stage 2B to Woden commences operation, which is not expected until late in the decade. Commonwealth Park station is intended to support passengers travelling to and from major events at Commonwealth Park. It will also need to support the increased passenger numbers from the development of the Acton Waterfront in the medium to long term.
The design of the new Commonwealth Park station should therefore support passenger entrance and exit from both ends of the platform, similar to the current terminus at Alinga Street (see Figure 1).
Enabling passenger entrance and exit at both ends of this station will require a second signalised pedestrian crossing at the north end of the station. A second signalised pedestrian crossing:
● will better support pedestrians crossing Commonwealth Avenue to and from Acton Waterfront, including both users of the existing Acton Waterfront car parks and future Acton Waterfront residents, workers and visitors
● will better support the use of longer (45 metre) light rail vehicles (LRVs) when there are major
events at Commonwealth Park, and
● will not adversely impact travel time for north or south bound traffic on Commonwealth Avenue.
Additional bus bays outside Commonwealth Park
As the Commonwealth Park station will be the southern terminus of the light rail network for several years, provision needs to be made for:
● light rail/bus interchange for passengers travelling to and from south Canberra who want to
access the City South or Edinburgh Avenue stations.
● bus services to south Canberra supporting major events at Commonwealth Park, and
● bus services to north and south Canberra in the event of light rail network outages and service interruptions.
The proposed single bus bays will not be sufficient, and PTCBR recommends additional bus bays on either side of Commonwealth Avenue (see Figure 1). These bus bays should not affect the Commonwealth Avenue vista as they will be under the canopy of proposed tree plantings. Bus movements from the bus bays to traffic lanes on Commonwealth Avenue will naturally be facilitated by the signalised pedestrian crossings.
Given the significant exposure to winds from the lake, these bays, and those new bays adjacent the proposed City South station, should have appropriate seating, lighting and shelters, like the stops outside Albert Hall.
Relocated signalised intersection on Commonwealth Avenue
The traffic modelling for LRS2A assumes the future signalisation of the intersection of Corkhill Street and Commonwealth Avenue by 2036.1 While not currently featured in the LRS2A project plans, such a development is consistent with the ACT Government’s original City to the Lake plans.2
PTCBR submits that if the suggested additional exits from the Commonwealth Park station are provided, a better location for this intersection would be further north of Corkhill Street, where Commonwealth Avenue is proposed to intersect with a new collector road servicing the Acton Waterfront precinct (see Figure 2).
In addition to being consistent with the NCA’s Kings & Commonwealth Avenues Draft Design Strategy,3 relocating the intersection here would provide a more even spacing of pedestrian crossings across Commonwealth Avenue. This increased permeability would also yield
significant safety benefits by discouraging informal crossings of this busy arterial road.
PTCBR therefore request that the designs of LRS2A not preclude the possibility of installing an additional signalised intersection at this location in the future.
City South station platform extension
The LRS2A plans show the City South station is designed for the future extension of the platform to 45 metres, similar to the stations for light rail stage one. By contrast, the Edinburgh Avenue and Commonwealth Park stations are planned to be built to the full 45 metre length from day one.
PTCBR submit that building the platforms to the full 45 metre length as part of the original build is good practice, as it avoids costly and disruptive retrofitting. It should therefore be maintained with the City South station, as well as any future light rail stations.
Recommendation 3: there should be additional bus priority measures to mitigate construction impacts, reduce journey times and increase network capacity.
The Traffic and Transport Impact Assessment states there will be “[b]us travel time increases of between one and four minutes for bus routes in the study area in the AM and PM peak hours.”4 However, there are reasons for the NCA and ACTPLA to closely scrutinise and be pessimistic about this modelling.
A similar assessment for the Raising London Circuit (RLC) project suggested there would be delays of around two minutes for buses on Commonwealth Avenue during the AM and PM peak, and another delay of one minute for inbound London Circuit buses.5 However, the practical experience has been significantly different, with Transport Canberra’s timetabled peak journey times increasing by 13 minutes.6 These delays had a severely detrimental effect across the entire bus network, reducing bus capacity and cutting services on almost all routes.
Secondly, this present assessment’s base case appears to be pre-RLC, assuming buses travel around the cloverleaf, rather than the current detour via Vernon Circle. This assessment also makes no reference to the priority measures already in place.
It is now clear that there was limited coordination between MPC and TCCS in preparing for the impacts of RLC. It is unacceptable to have another three years of bus delays of 13 minutes and capacity reductions. The NCA and ACTPLA should require the Traffic and Transport Liaison Group to explore and adopt additional priority measures, including:
• extending the clockwise Vernon Circle bus-only lane to Constitution Avenue, along the currently barricaded lane
• temporary works at the Vernon Circle/Constitution Avenue intersection to make room for left-turning buses. This may need to involve the partial demolition of recently installed parking and landscaping on Constitution Avenue, but it is warranted if these delays are expected for another three years.
• signal priority at the London Circuit/Constitution Avenue intersection.
Separately, PTCBR strongly supports the proposed removal of right-turning traffic at the Alinga St/Northbourne Avenue intersection. The current three phases of traffic lights create a significant barrier to pedestrians, even though there is very little turning traffic. PTCBR encourages a reasonable east-west traffic phase to allow pedestrians enough time to cross Northbourne in a single phase.
Recommendation 4: the journey time between Alinga Street and Commonwealth Park should be no more than six minutes
The Traffic and Transport Impact Assessment states that it will take passengers approximately six to nine minutes to travel between Alinga Street and Commonwealth Park via light rail when LRS2A is complete.
PTCBR believes that six minutes is an acceptable journey time for a 1.7km trip through busy city streets. However, we consider nine minutes to be beyond the limits of an acceptable journey time, especially considering the impact this would have on the future travel times between Woden and the City once LRS2B is complete.
Similarly, we are alarmed at the proposed maximum speed limit for LRVs operating on Commonwealth Avenue, which is shown in the LRS2A development application documentation as being limited to 40km/hr. This is significantly lower than the 60km/h speed limit that will apply to other vehicles travelling along Commonwealth Avenue once the upgrades to Commonwealth Avenue Bridge are complete.
To ensure the journey time between Commonwealth Park and Alinga Street is maintained at a consistent six minutes during the morning and afternoon peak periods, PTCBR strongly recommend that:
• LRVs are given consistent signal priority along the full length of the LRS2A route, and
• the maximum speed of LRVs travelling along Commonwealth Avenue is increased from 40km/h to at least 60km/h.
Recommendation 5: the Light Rail Stage 2A project should provide safe infrastructure for cyclists
PTCBR strongly support the LRS2A project’s plans to construct two new protected intersections at Northbourne and Commonwealth Avenues. This is a welcome step towards the implementation of the road user hierarchy championed by both the NCA and the ACT Government.10
To ensure cyclists are provided with the infrastructure they need to move safely along the LRS2A corridor, PTCBR also support Pedal Power’s submission to these approvals processes. We trust that a compromise can be reached which is consistent with their submission and the operational requirements of LRS2A.
PTCBR is a strong supporter of light rail. It is a tried, tested, and popular mode of transport that is best placed to meet Canberra's needs as our city grows towards a population of 800,000 and beyond.
This submission provides our views on the plans for LRS2A, as presented on websites of the National Capital Authority (NCA) and the ACT Planning and Land Authority (ACTPLA). Our five recommendations are as follows:
Recommendation 1: the Light Rail Stage 2A project should be approved by the NCA and ACTPLA
Recommendation 2: the Light Rail Stage 2A project should respond to the future Acton Waterfront precinct
Recommendation 3: there should be additional bus priority measures to mitigate construction impacts, reduce journey times and increase network capacity
Recommendation 4: the journey time between Alinga Street and Commonwealth Park should be no more than six minutes
Recommendation 5: the Light Rail Stage 2A project should provide safe infrastructure for cyclists
Further details are provided in the remainder of this submission.
Recommendation 1: the Light Rail Stage 2A project should be approved by the NCA and ACTPLA
The LRS2A project is an extension of the highly successful first stage of light rail from Gungahlin to the City. It is also an important step towards extending the network south to Woden, which will add considerable and sorely needed capacity to Canberra’s public transport system.
Extending light rail to Commonwealth Park will provide significantly improved public transport options for residents, tourists, workers and students in Canberra’s City Centre. The proposed stations are in attractive locations that will
satisfy current and future public transport demand:
🡺 Edinburgh Avenue – This area has been poorly served by public transport, especially outside
business hours. Access to the Australian National University, City West and New Acton will be much
easier and convenient with the delivery of this light rail station.
🡺 City South – This station will serve workers on both sides of London Circuit, especially those in
City South-West, the future residents of the Acton Waterfront precinct, and the proposed
residential, commercial and entertainment developments in the City Hill precinct.
🡺 Commonwealth Park – This station will be a significant and attractive transport option for the
tens of thousands of Canberrans and tourists who visit events at Commonwealth Park, and the many
Canberrans that visit Lake Burley Griffin routinely for recreational purposes.
LRS2A will provide significant benefits to the Central National Area, including City Hill, West Basin, Commonwealth Park and Lake Burley Griffin, by improving access to these locations and reducing the reliance on private vehicles. This will enable the conversion of land currently
sterilised by surface car parks into new buildings and public spaces, bringing the Griffins’ vision of a lively, people-focused capital to life.
PTCBR understands that the plans for LRS2A have been discussed extensively with the NCA to ensure they meet the following non-negotiable design requirements for Commonwealth Avenue:
• irrigated grass median and verges with large canopy trees
• no reduction in lanes for general traffic
• no median safety barriers
With these requirements now met, we urge the speedy approval of the LRS2A project to enable the construction of this vital transport infrastructure to commence without further delay.
Recommendation 2: the Light Rail Stage 2A project should respond to the future Acton Waterfront precinct
PTCBR are aware that Major Projects Canberra (MPC) has been working closely with the City Renewal Authority and Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) to ensure LRS2A responds to the transport needs of the Acton Waterfront precinct. We believe further design refinements would future-proof LRS2A and improve its future connectivity with this important residential, recreational and entertainment district.
Additional exits for the Commonwealth
Park station
Commonwealth Park station will be the southern terminus of the light rail network until Stage 2B to Woden commences operation, which is not expected until late in the decade. Commonwealth Park station is intended to support passengers travelling to and from major events at Commonwealth Park. It will also need to support the increased passenger numbers from the development of the Acton Waterfront in the medium to long term.
The design of the new Commonwealth Park station should therefore support passenger entrance and exit from both ends of the platform, similar to the current terminus at Alinga Street (see Figure 1).
Enabling passenger entrance and exit at both ends of this station will require a second signalised pedestrian crossing at the north end of the station. A second signalised pedestrian crossing:
● will better support pedestrians crossing Commonwealth Avenue to and from Acton Waterfront, including both users of the existing Acton Waterfront car parks and future Acton Waterfront residents, workers and visitors
● will better support the use of longer (45 metre) light rail vehicles (LRVs) when there are major
events at Commonwealth Park, and
● will not adversely impact travel time for north or south bound traffic on Commonwealth Avenue.
Additional bus bays outside Commonwealth Park
As the Commonwealth Park station will be the southern terminus of the light rail network for several years, provision needs to be made for:
● light rail/bus interchange for passengers travelling to and from south Canberra who want to
access the City South or Edinburgh Avenue stations.
● bus services to south Canberra supporting major events at Commonwealth Park, and
● bus services to north and south Canberra in the event of light rail network outages and service interruptions.
The proposed single bus bays will not be sufficient, and PTCBR recommends additional bus bays on either side of Commonwealth Avenue (see Figure 1). These bus bays should not affect the Commonwealth Avenue vista as they will be under the canopy of proposed tree plantings. Bus movements from the bus bays to traffic lanes on Commonwealth Avenue will naturally be facilitated by the signalised pedestrian crossings.
Given the significant exposure to winds from the lake, these bays, and those new bays adjacent the proposed City South station, should have appropriate seating, lighting and shelters, like the stops outside Albert Hall.
Relocated signalised intersection on Commonwealth Avenue
The traffic modelling for LRS2A assumes the future signalisation of the intersection of Corkhill Street and Commonwealth Avenue by 2036.1 While not currently featured in the LRS2A project plans, such a development is consistent with the ACT Government’s original City to the Lake plans.2
PTCBR submits that if the suggested additional exits from the Commonwealth Park station are provided, a better location for this intersection would be further north of Corkhill Street, where Commonwealth Avenue is proposed to intersect with a new collector road servicing the Acton Waterfront precinct (see Figure 2).
In addition to being consistent with the NCA’s Kings & Commonwealth Avenues Draft Design Strategy,3 relocating the intersection here would provide a more even spacing of pedestrian crossings across Commonwealth Avenue. This increased permeability would also yield
significant safety benefits by discouraging informal crossings of this busy arterial road.
PTCBR therefore request that the designs of LRS2A not preclude the possibility of installing an additional signalised intersection at this location in the future.
City South station platform extension
The LRS2A plans show the City South station is designed for the future extension of the platform to 45 metres, similar to the stations for light rail stage one. By contrast, the Edinburgh Avenue and Commonwealth Park stations are planned to be built to the full 45 metre length from day one.
PTCBR submit that building the platforms to the full 45 metre length as part of the original build is good practice, as it avoids costly and disruptive retrofitting. It should therefore be maintained with the City South station, as well as any future light rail stations.
Recommendation 3: there should be additional bus priority measures to mitigate construction impacts, reduce journey times and increase network capacity.
The Traffic and Transport Impact Assessment states there will be “[b]us travel time increases of between one and four minutes for bus routes in the study area in the AM and PM peak hours.”4 However, there are reasons for the NCA and ACTPLA to closely scrutinise and be pessimistic about this modelling.
A similar assessment for the Raising London Circuit (RLC) project suggested there would be delays of around two minutes for buses on Commonwealth Avenue during the AM and PM peak, and another delay of one minute for inbound London Circuit buses.5 However, the practical experience has been significantly different, with Transport Canberra’s timetabled peak journey times increasing by 13 minutes.6 These delays had a severely detrimental effect across the entire bus network, reducing bus capacity and cutting services on almost all routes.
Secondly, this present assessment’s base case appears to be pre-RLC, assuming buses travel around the cloverleaf, rather than the current detour via Vernon Circle. This assessment also makes no reference to the priority measures already in place.
It is now clear that there was limited coordination between MPC and TCCS in preparing for the impacts of RLC. It is unacceptable to have another three years of bus delays of 13 minutes and capacity reductions. The NCA and ACTPLA should require the Traffic and Transport Liaison Group to explore and adopt additional priority measures, including:
• extending the clockwise Vernon Circle bus-only lane to Constitution Avenue, along the currently barricaded lane
• temporary works at the Vernon Circle/Constitution Avenue intersection to make room for left-turning buses. This may need to involve the partial demolition of recently installed parking and landscaping on Constitution Avenue, but it is warranted if these delays are expected for another three years.
• signal priority at the London Circuit/Constitution Avenue intersection.
Separately, PTCBR strongly supports the proposed removal of right-turning traffic at the Alinga St/Northbourne Avenue intersection. The current three phases of traffic lights create a significant barrier to pedestrians, even though there is very little turning traffic. PTCBR encourages a reasonable east-west traffic phase to allow pedestrians enough time to cross Northbourne in a single phase.
Recommendation 4: the journey time between Alinga Street and Commonwealth Park should be no more than six minutes
The Traffic and Transport Impact Assessment states that it will take passengers approximately six to nine minutes to travel between Alinga Street and Commonwealth Park via light rail when LRS2A is complete.
PTCBR believes that six minutes is an acceptable journey time for a 1.7km trip through busy city streets. However, we consider nine minutes to be beyond the limits of an acceptable journey time, especially considering the impact this would have on the future travel times between Woden and the City once LRS2B is complete.
Similarly, we are alarmed at the proposed maximum speed limit for LRVs operating on Commonwealth Avenue, which is shown in the LRS2A development application documentation as being limited to 40km/hr. This is significantly lower than the 60km/h speed limit that will apply to other vehicles travelling along Commonwealth Avenue once the upgrades to Commonwealth Avenue Bridge are complete.
To ensure the journey time between Commonwealth Park and Alinga Street is maintained at a consistent six minutes during the morning and afternoon peak periods, PTCBR strongly recommend that:
• LRVs are given consistent signal priority along the full length of the LRS2A route, and
• the maximum speed of LRVs travelling along Commonwealth Avenue is increased from 40km/h to at least 60km/h.
Recommendation 5: the Light Rail Stage 2A project should provide safe infrastructure for cyclists
PTCBR strongly support the LRS2A project’s plans to construct two new protected intersections at Northbourne and Commonwealth Avenues. This is a welcome step towards the implementation of the road user hierarchy championed by both the NCA and the ACT Government.10
To ensure cyclists are provided with the infrastructure they need to move safely along the LRS2A corridor, PTCBR also support Pedal Power’s submission to these approvals processes. We trust that a compromise can be reached which is consistent with their submission and the operational requirements of LRS2A.