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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Lanie Tindale

Closed streets as Woden to City light rail construction begins

Construction is starting on the Woden to City light rail route. Picture: Dion Georgopoulos

Utilities relocation works will start on London Circuit to prepare for the Woden to City light rail route construction on Friday, September 24, after peak-hour traffic subsides.

The section of London Circuit between Constitution Avenue and Edinburgh Avenue will be closed until Tuesday, September 28.

Drivers will be rerouted into the city via Vernon Circle and along Edinburgh and Constitution Avenues.

A construction site compound has also been established in the car park on the corner of London Circuit and Constitution Avenue.

This will take over some car spaces, but the ACT government says around 400 spots still remain.

MORE LIGHT RAIL NEWS:

The relocations works will take approximately nine months, and there will be more traffic disruptions ahead.

The ACT government has also opened a competitive two-stage tender process for raising London Circuit.

It wants to create an at-grade intersection with Commonwealth Avenue.

The first stage is seeking expressions of interest from pre-qualified construction companies and closes on October 14.

The quiet roads are a perfect opportunity to start works, ACT Transport Minister Chris Steel said.

"Work has now started on moving underground utilities from their current position along London Circuit to a new alignment on Constitution Avenue, Vernon Circle and Edinburgh Avenue," Mr Steel said.

"By doing this work now, it reduces the risk of damage to critical utilities when we start the main construction work on raising London Circuit in 2022, and following that, building stations and laying track.

"These initial works are not expected to create significant traffic disruption but there will be changes to public parking access, and minor temporary traffic changes in the city."

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