The government says it has tweaked the Canberra Hospital SPIRE project to ease community concerns about the traffic impact of the expansion.
But Woden Valley Community Council says it's simply a Band-Aid solution to a poorly planned project
The SPIRE project was originally slated to be built on the corner of Kitchener Street and Yamba Drive, but the government ditched that idea due to cost and time blowout fears.
Instead, it settled on Palmer Street and Gilmore Crescent, which is opposite Garran Primary School.
Others, like the community council and the opposition, think building three at Canberra Hospital should have been redeveloped instead.
Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the changes would reduce hospital traffic on surrounding roads and better link the hospital.
The changes would mean Hospital Way was no longer a through road, while the new SPIRE building would connect to the hospital's main entrance.
For people self-presenting to the emergency department, it would only be accessible from one side of Hospital Road.
Ms Stephen-Smith said it meant those people would not drive via Gilmore Crescent.
Ambulances would still access the emergency department via Gilmore Crescent and depart from Palmer Street.
"The most important thing about this change in the detailed design is that we are really listening to the community," she said.
"I've been saying for some time we are still in the early stages of the detailed design process, we are still working with the community through all the issues that people are raising with us."
But Woden Valley Community Council president Fiona Carrick said cutting off Hospital Road would just transfer traffic to Palmer Street and Gilmore Crescent.
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"This is a Band-Aid solution to a poorly planned project," she said.
"Health services and facilities are important for our health outcomes and should be prioritised.
"The Canberra Hospital has old buildings that are in poor conditions and they need replacing now.
"Building three is in the centre of the hospital and provides access to all areas of the campus with access for ambulances off Yamba Drive.
"Rather than putting the building on the best site, the government is taking a cheaper path of least resistance."
Opposition health spokeswoman Vicki Dunne said the Canberra Hospital would be the only large complex in Australia which had its ambulance entrance off a residential street and opposite a school.
She said the residential roads were not designed for a high flow of ambulances.
"It just reinforces that it is the wrong place for this facility," Mrs Dunne said.
"The fact they are proposing to close Hospital Road is going to create traffic chaos."
