Underground bus mall may not be underground, feasible or affordable

An underground bus mall near Franklin Square promised during the state election may not be underground and may be built elsewhere, tender documents show.

An artist’s impression of an underground bus mall in Elizabeth St Hobart. Picture: Department of State Growth

AN underground bus mall near Franklin Square promised during the state election may not be underground and may be built elsewhere, tender documents show.

A project brief reveals the State Government does not know if the project is possible, how much it would cost or how long it will take to deliver.

It refers to the bus mall as being “possibly underground” and “potentially in the vicinity of lower Elizabeth Street and Franklin Square”.

The Government pledge for a new bus mall was made during last year’s state election campaign and included a series of artist impressions of how it might look.

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The state-of-the-art terminal was to feature airport-style real-time arrival and departure information and smart ticketing and high-speed Wi-Fi across the network.

“A re-elected majority Liberal government will plan, design and develop a new bus transit centre in Hobart for both Metro and other bus companies, to be included as part of the Hobart City Deal,” Premier Will Hodgman said at the time.

An artist’s impression of an underground bus mall in Elizabeth St Hobart. Picture: Department of State Growth

No mention was made of the bus mall when the City Deal was signed on February 25.

And the tender documents reveal that it might have to be put somewhere other than Franklin Square.

“The nominated site may or may not be feasible for any number of technical and/or practical reasons and the Tasmanian Government is seeking to analyse and confirm whether locating an at-ground, a partial or wholly underground bus transit centre that the nominated site is technically possible or, alternatively, whether the site is fatally flawed in that identified challenges cannot reasonably be overcome.”

The documents call on tenders to come up with a cost and time frame for the development in the event it is technically possible. And it asked that the potential for driverless and double-decker buses be catered for.

The project brief also points out to potential tenderers that the bus mall should be close to where people want to go.

“Research/best practice suggests that a central bus transit centre should be located in close proximity to critical CBD facilities and employment centres,” it notes.