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.
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.