Canberra to Reopen Part of London Circuit After 18 Months

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London Circuit East in central Canberra is due to partly reopen after 18 months of light rail construction, the ACT government has announced. Drivers and cyclists will be able to travel past the Theatre Lane car park and turn left onto Northbourne Avenue for the first time since the start of last year.

The construction compound in the car park will be dismantled by Saturday. Before work began, the lot held more than 200 bays. Only 57 public spaces will return, because room has been made for the new Lyric Theatre.

Businesses count the losses

Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Greg Harford called the construction "devastating for a lot of businesses". He described the partial reopening as the "start of the light at the end of the first tunnel". Customers had struggled to reach premises, he said.

The western side of London Circuit is a different matter. Works there will continue for some time. "Those businesses ... have really lost a lot of customers over the last couple of years and that is set to continue," Harford said.

Florist Pierce Jackson, whose family runs Embassy Florist and Janine Florist in the city, said one of the two shops sometimes saw only two customers a week. "There's been no passing traffic at all," he said. The business turned to online deliveries, and he said retailers that did not adapt "really struggled". He said he was grateful for the reopening but felt bad for businesses on the other side of the city.

ACT Planning Minister Chris Steel said the impact on city businesses was "temporary" and that any venue closures had several causes. He pointed out that the Business Council of Australia ranked the ACT third in the country for conducting business. Speaking to a press conference, he said "businesses want to see this project completed as soon as possible and that's the best thing that the government can do to limit the impact on their operations".

The government said Light Rail Stage 2A is on track to finish in the first half of 2027 for testing, with passengers expected in 2028. It also announced that the whole track slab for the stage is complete. Construction fencing will keep coming down as works are finished, and scaffolding at the City South and Commonwealth Park stops should follow over the coming weeks.

Source: ABC News