ACT Roads engineers get their way...after 37 years

Started by smitho, May 22, 2013, 05:58:20 PM

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smitho

Yesterday for the first time, I drove a bus over the new inner lane of the Parkes Way Extension southbound (formerly the Molonglo Arterial) between Marcus Clarke St and Glenloch Interchange.

I suspect that few Canberrans would recall that back in the 1970s when the Molonglo Arterial (= Parkes Way Extension) was being planned by the National Capital Development Commission, there was widespread community opposition to the project as it meant infilling part of the Lake, cutting into the Black Mountain Reserve and eliminating Lady Denman Drive at the city end of Glenloch.

NCDC planned the road as a 6 lane freeway, which it said, was necessary to accommodate peak period traffic. At the time, the Commonwealth was very much more pro-public transport than it is now. It directed NCDC to scale back the project and had NCDC redesign the road to just to meet off-peak traffic levels. So instead of three lanes in both directions, it was scaled back to two lanes each way. But as a compromise, a re-routed Lady Denman Drive was put back on the agenda, providing another two lanes, but requiring the Lake to be partially filled in to provide the space necessary for the realigned road.

Now that Parkes way has been enlarged to 3 lanes each way, it seems the roads engineers have finally got their way. Pity the new lanes are not designated transit lanes.

ajw373

What would be the point of having transit lanes on THAT particular road? Of all the roads in Canberra that is the road that should not have them.

I mean to say very few bus routes go down there, just a few peak hour expresses. Also considering how short the road really is with traffic coming from 3 locations (Tuggeranong, Belconnen and Gungahlin) and exiting to multiple locations 2km further down it would serve no purpose to anyone.

Now if you were talking transit lanes on Northborne Ave or maybe Belconnen Way you might have a point.

smitho

I was a bit tongue in cheek when I suggested transit lanes.