TERRITORY and Municipal Services Minister Shane Rattenbury has rejected claims that all of Northbourne Avenue will be dug up and replaced for the Capital Metro light rail project.

The claims made on the front page of today’s “Canberra Times” are based on an outdated transport options study from over a year ago, according to Mr Rattenbury.

“The project update released by the Government in September last year presented a revised proposal that did not require the complete digging up of Northbourne Avenue,” he says.

“The revised proposal changed the design, reduced the costs and retained the existing road and verge widths. The median alignment will minimise traffic disruption.

“Certainly the light rail project will require significant construction work, changes to intersections, and there will be disruptions to Northbourne. The same would occur if we built Bus Rapid Transit.”

The TAMS Minister also countered a claim made this morning by Shadow Transport Minister Alistair Coe that the Government’s decision making process over light rail has been “irresponsible at best, negligent at worst”.

“However, even the report’s assessment of light rail is ‘…there is no benefit or harm’,” Mr Coe said in a statement.

The report from URS Australia considers bus rapid transit (BRT) and two different types of light rail transit (LRT) – median and kerbside – and lists 19 potentially negative environmental, social and economic impacts, along with 19 potential benefits to come from the median light rail option.

Median LRT is the ACT Government’s preferred option.

It also lists 23 potential benefits against 16 possible negative outcomes for kerbside light rail, and as Mr Rattenbury points out, ends with the conclusion that “BRT is a cost-effective option, whilst LRT generates the best overall outcome for Canberra”.

“The reality is that we must take action on Northbourne Avenue,” says the TAMS Minister. “Travel speed during peak congestion is about 20 km/h, the most congested in Canberra. Without action it will deteriorate.”