Woden Valley Community Council remains unconvinced the planned Canberra Institute of Technology redevelopment will revitalise the town centre.
The ACT government officially ticked off on the $250-300 million project on Monday.
Construction will begin next year, initially on a public transport interchange with work on the CIT Woden campus starting in 2022.
But council president Jenny Stewart said she did not believe the project had been adequately thought through. She said the community was concerned about parking for the thousands of students attending CIT, and access from the new bus interchange through to the Woden town square.
She said while the community was consulted about the chosen design, they were locked out of the decision about the best site in Woden for the project.
"The fact that developments are proceeding in such a piecemeal fashion shows there is still no overall plan that joins everything up," she said.
"It's getting to be a very crowded place. These last stages of redeveloping the town centre are really quite critical. I'm not confident the government is really across those issues."
Opposition spokesman for higher education Andrew Wall said the Woden town centre was a derelict area, and was not convinced the development would be able to revitalise the area.
"They are continually trying to fix it but they somehow put all their eggs in one basket and say CIT is not just going to deliver all the tertiary benefits that is needed in the south ... but is also going to miraculously reinvigorate what is a very quiet, sad part of the Woden town centre," he said.
Read more: What is the future for the Woden town centre?
Mr Wall said there was a need for vocational services in Woden, but the government had failed to adequately consult with the community about the project.
ACT's Higher Education Minister Chris Steel said better public transport would be a key part of the project, with a safer interchange on Callam Street for buses, and a new stop in anticipation of light rail stage 2.
"This project will create a new front door to Woden, with a well-lit pedestrian boulevard connecting the interchange, CIT campus, the square and Westfield for a more vibrant and welcoming town centre," he said.
The new precinct will effectively replace CIT's Reid facility which will be redeveloped into a University of New South Wales campus over the next 15 years, with a $1 billion price tag.
