The ACT government was told nearly a decade ago lowering Parkes Way would create enough new land to cover the costs of the major project and the government would even receive an extra windfall from the sales.
The recently released report said moving Parkes Way could create 25 "new and redefined" urban blocks. It estimated about 150 dwellings a year could be sold over a five- to seven-year period.
"Currently undeveloped, these urban blocks can accommodate new public urban housing, workplaces and retail opportunities," the report said.
The ACT government has since abandoned plans to lower Parkes Way due to costs. Lowering Parkes Way could have paved the way for a Civic stadium.
In the 2013 government-commissioned report it was estimated moving Parkes Way, along with works on Commonwealth Avenue and West Basin, would cost about $210 million - with a 40 per cent contingency.
However, the report said the government would experience a windfall through selling blocks created by the lowering of Parkes Way.
"Based on a conservative sales rate of 150 dwellings per year, the project returns approximately $386 million to the ACT government over a five to seven year period," the report said.
"This equates to less than 50 per cent of the development potential unlocked by the initial infrastructure investment."
The report into the ACT government's "City to the Lake" strategy was undertaken in 2013 by Hill Thalis Architecture. The report was recently released following a freedom-of-information request.
The report described Parkes Way along the lake as a "legacy of another time and priorities". It said the "positivist interventions" of the 1950s which created the thoroughfare were "completely at odds with the Griffins' conception of a gentle urbanity".
It pointed to other "progressive" cities such as San Francisco, Boston, Barcelona, Seoul and Toronto where they had reversed "their motorway-dominated ways".
"They have learnt that giving outright priority to the boundless demands of the car is too great a price to pay," the report said.
The "remaking" of Parkes Way was described as "a new start for central Canberra".
"Beyond the physical opportunity to better connect the life of Civic to the lakefront by suppressing Parkes Way, the City to the Lake project opens a new horizon of potential public benefits which can transform the ways Canberrans use, view and appreciate their city and its superb landscape setting," the report said.
"The linking Canberra City to the Lake project will make a major contribution to the emergence of new Canberra. It will add substantial numbers of new jobs and new residents in the most accessible location in the ACT."
The ACT government's "City to the Lake" project was unveiled in 2013 by then-chief minister Katy Gallagher. Under the plan, Parkes Way would have become a split-level boulevard to link West Basin and Civic.
A new Canberra stadium, convention centre and pool was expected to form part of the plan.
However, a 2014 report said lowering Parkes Way could cost $460 million. The government then assessed alternative options for bridging the divide that Parkes Way imposes between the city and the lake.
Public service estimates provided to Chief Minister Andrew Barr last year said moving Parkes Way up to 12 metres to make way for a Civic stadium would cost $140 million.
Mr Barr said last year a stadium on the Civic pool site was at risk of being "dead space" if the project went ahead. He has since said the government was instead considering replacing the ageing pool with a 8000-seat music venue.
A group of Canberra's peak tourism, business, hospitality and sporting bodies have recently launched a bid to build a new stadium and convention centre in Civic. The group's plans include a stadium that would be able to be built on the existing site, eliminating the need to move Parkes Way.
We've made it a whole lot easier for you to have your say. Our new comment platform requires only one log-in to access articles and to join the discussion on The Canberra Times website. Find out how to register so you can enjoy civil, friendly and engaging discussions. See our moderation policy here.
