After years of planning and many protests by nearby residents, work on the long-awaited Ellerton Drive Extension has begun.
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The first sod was turned on the $86 million project on Monday morning by ACT senator Zed Seselja, Monaro MP John Barilaro and Queanbeyan Palerang Regional Council mayor Tim Overall.
Work on the 4.6 kilometre road extension is expected to be completed in mid 2020.
While the extension was first proposed several years ago by the council, the new road connecting Queanbeyan East with Karabarn has long been a contentious issue in the community, with many groups running vocal campaigns against it at the last election.
Speaking at the sod turning event, Senator Seselja said the road will reduce traffic congestion in the Queanbeyan CBD as the city’s population grows.
“This road has been planned for many years. We know how much growth there is in this area," he said.
“With the population of Queanbeyan and the surrounding region set to reach 56,000 by 2031, we are delivering a new road corridor that will cater for the growth of the city.”
Drivers using the EDE when it opens are expected to avoid up to 19 intersections along the route, as well as three sets of traffic lights.
Construction efforts will see more than 250 people working on the project.
Mayor Tim Overall said despite the high-levels of construction that’s expected in the area over the next 18 months, nearby residents aren't expected to be affected.
“This project has been very sensitively designed, and road corridor has been on the map for 43 years,” he said.
“It’s a wide corridor, but first and foremost, there will be noise walls and noise buffers are the first priority in terms of the construction sequence.”
Despite the high levels of protest about the project during September’s council election, Mr Overall said the election result has been a clear mandate for the road’s construction.
“It was the main issue at the meet-the-candidate events, but those tickets [against the EDE] only got 30 per cent of the vote at the election,” Mr Overall said.
“There’s been overwhelming support for the project, and there was a recent Roads and Maritime Service survey that revealed there was a more than four to one support ratio.
“Only 16 per cent surveyed were against the EDE, and this road has been long awaited for and will cater to the growth of Queanbeyan so we don’t have a road-network failure in five,10 or 15 years as the city grows.”
Mr Barilaro said the road is expected to divert many trucks away from the Queanbeyan CBD and open it up more to pedestrians.
“The extension will ease traffic congestion on local roads and improve response times for emergency services,” he said.