The new bikeway would provide a safe thoroughfare from West Belconnen to the city. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
Labor has promised to begin construction of a new $6 million bikeway from West Belconnen that will connect to the Belconnen Town Centre and the city.
Calling it the missing piece, City Services Minister Tara Cheyne said the West Belconnen Bikeway would allow people to ride or walk safely to the Town Centre and connect with the Belconnen Bikeway to take them into the city.
Ms Cheyne said riders or walkers would be either protected on an off-road shared path or pop-up cycle lane.
“We’ve got such an active community here in Belconnen who love to get out walking, riding, walking their dogs, exercising with their kids, learning to ride and to have the confidence that they’ll be able to do it all the way from West Belconnen to the city is something we’re really excited to announce,” she said.
Ms Cheyne said it was still undecided whether to start from Charnwood or Kippax, although her preference was the former due to the connectivity that occurs there and the work being done on the Kuringa Drive shared path.
“That’s a natural fit, but we’ll see what the design work shows.”
There was a route already set out along the old Belconnen busway when it was supposed to be expanded into Florey that could be used, but it was a question of what would be the safest approach and have the most benefit for the most amount of people, Ms Cheyne said.
She also announced a $120 million package of community infrastructure, including 12 new playgrounds, seven local shop upgrades, five new public toilets, over $24 million on new and improved footpaths, improvements at local libraries, ongoing road maintenance and resurfacing, and street light improvements.
She said it was not all about throwing money at a problem such as paths and mowing but bringing that work in-house and having dedicated teams that can respond more quickly than in the past when work would have to go to tender.
A Labor government would be building its city maintenance workforce for the future with a boost to trainees and apprentices.
“We recognise that there are a few different challenges for us here in the ACT and it’s not just solved by new infrastructure or more assets, but about the workforce that we have to care for those assets, to maintain them, to service them, whether it’s mowing, whether it’s cleaning a toilet block,” she said.
Labor said it had also listened to Canberrans wanting a bigger green bin or a second one, and would provide that option if re-elected.
This would suit people who had a large block to maintain and don’t have a trailer.
Mr Cheyne said Labor remained committed to building a FOGO facility and rolling out a FOGO pickup across the city.
Labor would also explore expanding the Container Deposit Scheme to include more eligible items, including wine bottles and batteries.
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