Since 2011, the ACT Equestrian Association, through the Equestrian Park Management Group have been in discussions with RoadsACT about the proposed duplication of the Cotter Road between the Tuggeranong Parkway and Yarralumla Creek (Stage 2). As the duplicated carriageway will be constructed on the northern side of the existing road, Equestrian Park will be impacted in a variety of ways. During this four year process EPMG has made a submission to RoadsACT, had numerous consultations with the designing engineers SMEC and made a final submission on the Works Approval application to the National Capital Authority. NCA have now given approval for the works to proceed. The timing of this remains vague. Funding for Stage 2 will require a Capital Works allocation in the ACT budget. That did not happen this year and will not happen next year as road making priority has shifted to Gungahlin and the take-up of housing blocks in Molonglo have slowed. Tony Gill of RoadsACT has suggested it may be 5 years before this project gets under way.
NCA have published its Consultation Report at http://www.nationalcapital.gov.au/index.php/works-approval/consultation-reports-2/4088-cotter-road-duplication-stage-2-mcculloch-street-to-tuggeranong-parkway. There were, in the end, only 8 submissions including ACTEA’s, indicating the amount of effort RoadsACT put into pre-design consultation.
In the meantime we have a clear record of agreed actions to protect the ongoing functioning of Equestrian Park:
1. There will be
- left hand turn slipways into Equestrian Park and Forest Park on the eastbound carriageway
- right hand turn storage lanes into Equestrian Park and Forest Park on the west bound carriage way; and
- right hand turn storage lanes on the west bound carriageway out of Equestrian Park and Forest Park.
2. The storage lanes will accommodate a car & float around 8m in length, rigid trucks around 9m or Semis at 16.5m.
3. There will be permanent signage installed on both carriageways warning that the area between Yarralumla Creek and the Tuggeranong Parkway is an equestrian zone and there are likely to be large, slow vehicles turning into and out of traffic.
4. The road pavement at the entrance to Woolshed Road will extend to the front gate.
5. A noise barrier composed of 20 x 2 metre high plexiglass screens installed on a concrete barrier 1.1m high will extend the length of the distance between Yarralumla Creek and the entrance road to Equestrian Park. The screens will have a grey matt opaque finish .
6. A new Equestrian Park sign will be installed either in front of the noise wall or attached to the noise wall.
7. The blue forthcoming events sign would be dismantled before works start and replaced where it can be easily seen by passers by as soon as physically possible and before the roadworks are finished.
8. The height of the new bridge section over Yarralumla Creek will not be lower than the present underpass.
9. The horse gate at the northern end of the Yarralumla Creek underpass, designed to stop horses escaping from the Park, will be moved with the bridge and the escape route kept secure against runaway horses throughout construction.
10. Mounting blocks with rounded corners will be sited at either end of the underpass before it is reopened.
11. The sight wire fence along the Cotter Road property boundary of Equestrian Park will need to be maintained in good order at all times during construction to ensure horses cannot escape onto the roadway or into the underpass.
12. The duplication of the Cotter Road will contribute an 8% increase in stormwater volume, much of which enters the Cotter Plots via a culvert under the present roadway. The Works Approval includes a detention pond in the verge outside the new Cotter Plots fence at the site of the new culvert as a measure to slow surface water entering the Plots.
13. There will be:
- a walking route along the northern verge of the Cotter Road on a path between the noise wall and Equestrian Park.
- safe walking access past the Cotter Plots between the northern road verge, past the proposed stormwater retention pond, and the Torrey Pines retaining wall.
14. The old track along the northern verge of the Cotter Road between Forest Park and the Tuggeranong Parkway down to the Molonglo River corridor will become narrower but remain open. At its narrowest (5m) a 1.2m railing will be installed to guide horses past a drop created by the road duplication.
15. All trenches have to be compacted to 90% of modified maximum dry density
16. Funding will be directed to collect seeds, propagate and replant Torrey Pines to mitigate against the impact of the need to remove about 20 trees in the way of the duplication.
17. A range of construction phase access issues will be reproduced in the contract documents and drawn to the attention of the Contractor and Superintendent.
18. ACTEA’s request to meet the project managers before contracts are let to explain their requirements for developing a strategy for continual use of the Park during the construction period (e.g. 9.1 -9.4) will be accommodated in the pre-tender meeting.
