Plans show the widened and realigned intersection of the northern end of the Southern Outlet at Macquarie and Davey streets. Image: TAS Department of State Growth.
The Tasmanian opposition has criticised a traffic management plan and funding shortfalls put forward by the government for the long-planned Southern Outlet upgrade project.
The project will see a widening of the roadway which connects Hobart city with the southern suburbs of Kingston, Kingborough, Huntingfield and beyond. Specifically, the intersection of the northern end of the Outlet with Macquarie and Davey streets which can be a traffic bottleneck during peak times will be widened and realigned, and a transit lane and peak hour clearway will be added.
In a 16 January joint release, Labor leader Bec White and Member for Franklin Dean Winter said documents obtained through right to information (RTI) laws showed the project was years behind schedule, had suffered significant cost blowouts, would create significant chaos during construction, and the project would only get road users to the bottleneck more quickly.
One of the documents is an August 2023 minute signed by Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Minister Michael Ferguson where he acknowledged a significant shortfall in the funding allocation for the project.
“We already knew the project was years behind schedule, now we know the costs have blown out ‘significantly’ – we just don’t know by exactly how much,” the release says.
“Right from the start it has been clear this project had minimal benefits as it only got commuters to the bottleneck more quickly, yet documents received under RTI show it will also create traffic chaos for years while it’s constructed,” they said.
“The project is already years behind schedule, and we can’t find anyone in Kingborough or the Huon who actually thinks the project will lead to less time in traffic.
“The consultant report shows the project taking between three to four years to complete and creating traffic chaos with long-term lane closures, and ‘major impacts to traffic’,” they added.
“An email from State Growth’s Manager of Strategic Operations outlines delays to outbound traffic on both the Southern Outlet and Tasman Bridge resulting in overlapping queues on Davey and Macquarie streets, creating gridlock in and around the CBD.
A plan for the southern end of the Southern Outlet shows areas of compulsory property acquisitions and the planned road widening works. Image: TAS Department of State Growth.
“This project is complete madness. It should be stopped and focus given to projects that will actually help: get the cancelled bus services back on the road, add new services and get on with the ferry system that’s been talked about for years.”
In response to the criticism, Minister Ferguson said Labor needed to tell Tasmanians what its solution was for the Southern Outlet and the growing population it served.
“Their whinging does nothing to help the 60,000 Tasmanians who live in Kingborough and the Huon Valley and who rely on their government to provide the transport capacity they need,” Mr Ferguson said.
“The Rockliff Liberal Government is getting on with our commitment to deliver an extra transit lane on Hobart’s Southern Outlet as the only solution to improving commuter traffic flow, particularly in morning peaks. It’s been far from easy, but we have to do it.
“Dean Winter and Bec White have never given any detail on what Labor would do other than an election commitment to ‘look to improve the congestion around Davey St/Macquarie St interfaces onto the Southern Outlet.’”
