Public Works Committee: Nairne Intersection Upgrade

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (11:28): I move:

That the 127^th report of the committee for the Fifty-Fourth Parliament, entitled Nairne Intersection Upgrade Project, be noted.

It gives me great pleasure to report on this project not just as the Presiding Member of the Public Works Committee but also as the local member. To see this project be fully and properly funded and brought forward is significant. It has been a project that has been needed in our community for more than two decades and this government is delivering it.

The Nairne intersection upgrade project is proposed to realign the Woodside Road and Saleyard Road T-junctions with the Old Princes Highway at Nairne into a four-way single-lane roundabout. The project will improve road safety and traffic efficiency by reducing delays for Woodside Road traffic and cater for future growth in the area. The project will also improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists, particularly for students at Nairne primary school, which is proximate to the intersection. The project is a government election commitment and is being delivered by the Department for Infrastructure and Transport.

The Nairne intersection upgrade project includes the following important scope of works: construction, as I earlier mentioned, of a four-way single-lane roundabout, realigning the Woodside Road and Saleyard Road T-junctions with the Old Princes Highway; relocation of the pedestrian actuated push-button crossing on the Old Princes Highway eastern approach to approximately 70 metres east of the roundabout to be constructed; new 2.5 metre wide shared use paths for the extent of the works; the provision of pedestrian fencing to encourage crossing at safe locations; upgraded LED road lighting for the extent of the works—and, Mr Deputy Speaker, you will know, of course, that this is a location that can become very wet and slippery in winter and, from time to time, be enveloped in fog as well. The project includes improved drainage, including new kerb and guttering works, and new asphalt surfacing and line marking for the extent of the new works at this location.

The current approved budget for the project is $12 million, up from $5 million, taking into account the scope of works required to see the project through. It is right for me to inform the house that the department took some time to consider what would be the appropriate traffic treatment at this location and, in forming the view that the roundabout would be a better solution, also formed the view that it would be necessary to acquire a number of properties.

We keep well in mind the needs of those property owners who are subject to acquisition, and it is important for me to record that I made very clear to the department the importance of considering the needs of a family who had constructed a home to ensure that it would be suitable for the specific needs of a disabled child. As I understand it, the department has worked to meet the additional and important issues that have arisen as part of the acquisition process.

I am also advised that the titles to the properties that are the subject of acquisition are now in the name of the commissioner. I am advised that there are a number of asbestos issues that will need to be resolved and are being resolved and that demolition will shortly commence, at least for a number of those properties.

Construction is, accordingly, expected to commence during the first quarter of 2021, subject, of course, to the finalisation of those demolition works. It is important for me to observe, too, that we all have a strong expectation that this project be seen through as speedily as possible, but it is also very important for the acquisition process to take its lawful course and for the important, valuable rights of property owners to be respected as part of that process. No works, of course, can commence until acquisition is complete and demolition has also been completed.

The committee examined written and oral evidence in relation to the project and received assurances that the appropriate consultation had been undertaken. The committee is satisfied, having regard to the evidence it received, that the proposal has been subject to appropriate agency consultation and does, importantly, meet the criteria for the examination of projects as described in the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991.

Based on the evidence considered and pursuant to section 12C of the Parliamentary Committees Act 1991, the Public Works Committee reports to parliament that it does recommend the proposed scope of the public works that I have described today to the house.

Motion carried.