Kingborough Mayor, Paula Wriedt said the State Government had given the Kingborough Council and the community a firm commitment to build a north-bound slip lane for the proposed new roundabout on Channel Highway at Huntingfield.
“I have been able to work directly with Minister Ferguson on ensuring the best outcome for Kingborough,” Cr Wriedt said.
“This commitment comes on the back of a very productive partnership between the Kingborough Council and State Government, fostered through the Hobart City Deal,” said Minister Ferguson.
“The Government is serious about this and welcome the progress.
“We have already commenced planning and design work on the additional slip lane and intend to submit a Development Application for this work later this calendar year.
“The construction of the slip lane will follow as soon as possible after all required approvals and property are secured, which is likely to be mid-next year.
“While the matter of the Huntingfield Roundabout was appealed through the Resource Management and Process Appeals Tribunal (RMPAT) as a necessary step, this strong, written commitment from the State Government helped a mediated agreement to be reached,” said Minister Ferguson.
“The State Government’s commitment and early work towards delivering a slip lane at the Huntingfield Roundabout is most welcome,” said Cr Wriedt.
“The community had raised significant and real concerns that provision of only a roundabout under the first design would not cater to the growing traffic
travelling from South of Kingston and a slip lane in the new design will address those.”
“We know that Kingborough is a growing community and needs the road infrastructure to grow with it.
“That’s why we have committed to building the slip lane now and, together with the Australian Government, are investing $60 million into the upgrade of the Algona roundabout to a full grade-separated interchange and doubling the lanes of the Kingston bypass,” said Minister Ferguson.
“This is in addition to the park and ride facilities currently under construction and the extra bus services to come, with the first service, the Huonville express, already proving popular with commuters.
“Importantly, we are also asking the public to give feedback on our plan to build an extra lane on the Southern Outlet, an extra lane on the bottleneck between Davey and Macquarie Streets and an extra lane into Macquarie Street; an end-to-end solution for people living South of Hobart which will allow better commuter reliability and better public transport,” said Minister Ferguson.
Council will now issue a permit for the roundabout, to support the Government’s delivery of affordable land supply for housing at Huntingfield.