Independent Member for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, has joined Dynnyrne residents on the proposed route of the fifth lane of the Southern Outlet in urging the State Government to rethink the expensive folly.
Mr Wilkie said the Government must ditch the $35m plan that would demolish precious family homes and funnel more traffic into the gridlock of Hobart.
“Yes, we will always need cars and we do need to invest in better roads,” Mr Wilkie said. “But imagine what some of the millions pumped into roads could do for alternative modes of transport including light rail, ferries, park-and-ride facilities, cheaper and more frequent buses and improvements to encourage cyclists and pedestrians.”
Mr Wilkie said Hobart’s congestion had returned after the reprieve during the school holidays.
“As an experiment we measured the school-run delay,” he said. “During the holidays it took about 7 minutes to drive the Southern Outlet. On Tuesday, when school went back, the same trip took almost 17 minutes. So school traffic more than doubles the trip from Kingston to Hobart. Did the Government investigate more school buses or other simple solutions before it told Dynnyrne residents their homes would be bulldozed by Christmas?
“A city the size of Hobart should not be this congested. The Government needs to show some genuine vision and create a liveable city where people aren’t forced into cars because of poor public transport and delays in delivering critical infrastructure.”