NT government to fund second road entry to Royal Darwin Hospital
The government has confirmed it will fund a second entry to Royal Darwin Hospital, just days after a crash on the only road in and out.
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A second entrance to Royal Darwin Hospital will begin construction this year.
The announcement comes just days after a traffic crash on Friday evening, which is understood to have temporarily blocked two lanes to the hospital.
But it also comes years after the Australian Medical Association NT branch “urgently” called for an alternative entry.
AMA NT president Rob Parker described the single entry as a “fragile choke point” after a crash in 2020 prevented ambulances from reaching the hospital for half an hour.
He said the crash on Friday could have also temporarily blocked traffic to emergency points.
Mr Parker described the government’s commitment to build a second entrance as a win for hospital staff and patients, as well as motorists in the area.
“The campus is becoming increasingly busy and the couple of incidents that have occurred made it obvious a second road is needed now,” he said.
“It will probably assist with traffic flow as there’s often a build up of people trying to turn right into the hospital, with a flow of traffic going east up Rocklands Drive.”
A government spokeswoman said the road design was progressing and that it would connect the hospital to Rocklands Drive, like the existing entry.
“$470,000 (of NT government money) has been included in the 2023-24 minor works program in preparation for works to commence in the new financial year,” she said.
Mr Parker said he understood the new road would be east of the existing entry and would include a bridge.
While the AMA NT’s preference was to see a totally separate entrance built from Lee Point Road, Mr Parker said he understood the decision to build the road from Rocklands Drive.
“An entry from Lee Point Rd was our preferred option but there are environmental and residential concerns with that,” he said.
“Given those issues it probably would have been held up forever.
“In the end I can accept option two, it’s a good option.
“It hopefully won’t upset residents by increasing traffic on other roads.
“And even if Rocklands Drive does get blocked at some point, traffic could still be redirected through Tiwi as there’s a number of entries to that road.”
The government has also announced it will spend $1m in the 2023 budget to plan for the future of the Territory’s health services.
A dedicated team will investigate the replacement of the main Royal Darwin Hospital tower.
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