New City West Layover

[Busfanatic101]

https://the-riotact.com/city-west-bus-layover-moving-to-turner/

City West bus layover moving to Turner
Ian Bushnell  6 September 2019

The new bus layover for City West will be in Turner. Image: Supplied.

The ACT Government is moving ahead with plans to move the City West bus layover on Marcus Clarke Street to Turner, with an April 2020 deadline looming for the sale of the land near the Australian National University.

The Government is seeking a consultant to design the new layover, slated for the corner of Barry Drive and Watson Street in Turner. It has budgeted $5 million for the project's design and construction.

Tender documents say the current site is too small and the new layover would need to provide parking for up to 25 buses, breakout areas for drivers, and underground flood storage of about 2000 cubic metres.

The new site, identified in a 2013 study commissioned by the ACT Government, is zoned PRZI Urban Open Space Zone and consists of Sullivans Creek open space and Territory operated surface car park.

The documents say the new layover would support changes required to the City Bus Station as part of a realignment of platforms and routes integrating with light rail, while minimising the number of buses that are required to sit within the City Bus Station precinct.


The new bus layover site on the corner of Watson Street and Barry Drive, Turner. Photo: Google

They say the new layover design must provide a suitable, safe and conveniently accessible space to all bus routes. New or modified signalised intersections would include technology such as Bluetooth detectors and CCTV to monitor traffic.

"All design elements including civil and structural engineering, flood storage, driver break facilities, new intersections, cross-section details, path and cycle network connectivity must comply with the current ACT Government and National standards having due regard to topography, geology, climate, the environment and heritage in the area," it says.

It must integrate into the area and maintain current traffic-flow expectations there, with the successful tenderer to conduct a Traffic Impact Assessment.

The documents list specific risks to be managed including flood storage, water sensitive urban design, pollution trap maintenance, fuel/oil spill containment, noise, and the local environment.

[Busnerd]

Will be a shame to see the old layover demolished, but given the site it was only a matter of time, also considering the City Interchange is creeping forever closer to City West it won't make much difference to services. Commencing services would probably start at the ANU bus stops meaning extra services to there which would be useful as well. Lets wait and see what the design plans come out as.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

How many trees and how much grass and plant life is being sacrificed for this new layover? If they keep this up, the City will become another Chernobyl-like area, like what every other city in Australia has become.
Surely I'm not the only one who's noticed how much less the air is breathable up and down Northbourne Avenue.

[ajw373]

How many trees and how much grass and plant life is being sacrificed for this new layover? If they keep this up, the City will become another Chernobyl-like area, like what every other city in Australia has become.

Have you ever been to Chernobly? I have actually, and let me tell you something it ain't lacking in plants and wilflife! And need to ask this how much grass and plantlife was sacraficed to build your home and everything you use on a daily basis?

Surely I'm not the only one who's noticed how much less the air is breathable up and down Northbourne Avenue.

I've not noticed this. But as someone who drives down northborne ave 3 times a week and gets the light rail 2 days a week one thing I've noticed is how much more pleasant it is without the buses on Northborne Ave.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

Guess my blatant sarcasm wasn't obvious enough for you...

[Busfanatic101]

Guess my blatant sarcasm wasn't obvious enough for you...

It wasn't

[ajw373]

Guess my blatant sarcasm wasn't obvious enough for you...

There was no sarcasim to miss, what there was hoewver was analogy which, considering what I have seen in real life is the direct opposite of the point you were attempting to (rather poorly) to make!

PS How was the series Chernobyl, which is where I am assuming you got the (wrong) idea from? I've yet to see it, though next month I am flying to the US and I notice the series is on the Qantas IFE, so might watch the lot in one go.

[Sylvan Loves Buses]

Well I'm sorry my asperges severely limits my brain capabilities to construct a more developed answer that doesn't take less than 3 hours to come up with and what appears is only humorous to me... The Chernobyl-'like' add-on was a joke on how dead the major cities of Australia are now from all the buildings/constant construction and how much Canberra is facing the same fate. I could go on, but my responses would start to get overly racist and politically incorrect, we don't want that here now do we?

[ajw373]

Yeah I got that. Just pointing out that Chernobyl is far from dead and is in fact the polar opposite.

If I could easily add a photo I would!

[Bus 400]

The DA should be approved for the DA relating to this by now.

Tenders should be advertised/issued this month.

Work should be completed by March 2021.

Nothing noticeable has changed since the original plans were shown somewhere last year/2018. Except maybe with an extra access road at Watson St (for once a City to Turner Seniors Centre service is complete - Rte 72 anyone?)

While the ANU isn't short of land to develop up, the land could be valuable in a year or 2. Within walking distance of the tram to Woden & Gungahlin.

EDIT: The DA can be found at https://www.planning.act.gov.au/talk-with-us/pubnote?sq_content_src=%2BdXJsPWh0dHAlM0ElMkYlMkZhcHBzLmFjdHBsYS5hY3QuZ292LmF1JTJGcHVibm90ZSUyRnB1Ym5vdGVEZXRhaWxfbmV3LmFzcCUzRkRBX25vJTNEMjAyMDM3MDkzJmFsbD0x

[Barry Drive]

This topic is close enough.

As was reported last week, the City West layover will be used as a compound for the Light Rail 2A construction. So it will be closing to buses this month.