The following formal submission have been made public
Submitter: Brendan HalloranRaising of London Circuit
I'm a huge supporter of public transport, but I'm very concerned the design of the raising of London Cct will have unintended and negative consequences for bus public transport and active travel across the surrounding area.
I'm an industry expert in geospatial and demographic analysis. I have worked for both government and private sector in this sector for well over 20 years. I previously highlighted issues with the re-design of the Canberra bus network in 2019 and since that time the issues and concerns I raised have been proven. So I feel I have a strong track record in understanding how public transport systems operate and interact in a spatial sense and just as importantly in a people sense.
I instead propose, that the infill of London Cct should retain a transit underpass solely for the use of buses, cyclists, pedestrians and emergency vehicles (not private cars). This will enable buses from and to the western and south western areas of Canberra to operate efficiently and better compete with car travel times to and from the city. It will also enable faster and less inhibited bike and pedestrian access in and out of the city (East /West). Crossing the Light Rail line at this new raised London Cct crossroad will become a very busy and very slow intersection for all types of users.
The Light Rail to Woden line can continue as designed (I provide no opinion on the merits or faults of LR Stage 2), but the entire road space at London Cct under Commonwealth Ave shouldn't be filled in.
By following the projects proposed road raising design, users will experience delayed travel by bus to the city from West Belconnen, Weston Creek and Northern Tuggeranong this will further impact public transport users not directly serviced by Light Rail. Further exacerbating commute times, wellbeing and productivity.
Please reconsider your design, retain an existing lane of London cct under Commonwealth Ave and only fill in 75% of the bridge span to allow the Light Rail to climb the gradient.
A key question you need to answer is, Why fill in an existing underpass? My recommended re-design will have no effect on the Light Rail stage 2 project, but the projects proposed design for the complete raising and infill of this area will have an extremely negative effect on the thousands of buses, cyclists, pedestrians, emergency vehicles and cars who previously used both the clover leaf and London Cct underpass each day.
I'm an industry expert in geospatial and demographic analysis. I have worked for both government and private sector in this sector for well over 20 years. I previously highlighted issues with the re-design of the Canberra bus network in 2019 and since that time the issues and concerns I raised have been proven. So I feel I have a strong track record in understanding how public transport systems operate and interact in a spatial sense and just as importantly in a people sense.
I instead propose, that the infill of London Cct should retain a transit underpass solely for the use of buses, cyclists, pedestrians and emergency vehicles (not private cars). This will enable buses from and to the western and south western areas of Canberra to operate efficiently and better compete with car travel times to and from the city. It will also enable faster and less inhibited bike and pedestrian access in and out of the city (East /West). Crossing the Light Rail line at this new raised London Cct crossroad will become a very busy and very slow intersection for all types of users.
The Light Rail to Woden line can continue as designed (I provide no opinion on the merits or faults of LR Stage 2), but the entire road space at London Cct under Commonwealth Ave shouldn't be filled in.
By following the projects proposed road raising design, users will experience delayed travel by bus to the city from West Belconnen, Weston Creek and Northern Tuggeranong this will further impact public transport users not directly serviced by Light Rail. Further exacerbating commute times, wellbeing and productivity.
Please reconsider your design, retain an existing lane of London cct under Commonwealth Ave and only fill in 75% of the bridge span to allow the Light Rail to climb the gradient.
A key question you need to answer is, Why fill in an existing underpass? My recommended re-design will have no effect on the Light Rail stage 2 project, but the projects proposed design for the complete raising and infill of this area will have an extremely negative effect on the thousands of buses, cyclists, pedestrians, emergency vehicles and cars who previously used both the clover leaf and London Cct underpass each day.