Amended $50m Hobart airport roundabout design recommended for approval by council

It has been four years since the $50 million Hobart airport roundabout upgrade was promised and now council is set to vote on the final design.

AN amended design for the long-awaited Hobart airport roundabout upgrade is set to get the council tick of approval.

The planning application for the latest design has been recommended for approval with conditions at Clarence City Council planning authority meeting on Monday.

The $50 million upgrade was first announced in 2016 as part of the federal election campaign.

Earlier this year, the State Government gave an assurance it will be finished by mid-2022.

Design drawings of the proposed Hobart airport roundabout upgrade.

The project aims to ease growing traffic congestion between Sorell and Hobart, with the new layout to include two roundabouts in a peanut shape that will provide access to Kennedy Drive and Holman Ave.

RELATED NEWS:

PUBLIC INPUT SOUGHT ON AIRPORT ROUNDABOUT UPGRADE

EYE-WATERING COST BLOWOUT IN AIRPORT ROUNDABOUT

PARTIES FACE OFF OVER SORELL-HOBART CORRIDOR FUNDING

A bridge would allow highway traffic to pass over the roads below. The planning documents said the interchange had been designed to cater for modelled traffic levels up to the year 2041.

Former Infrastructure Minister Jeremy Rockliff and then-Liberal candidate Jane Howlett announcing measures to reduce traffic congestion at the Hobart airport roundabout in 2018. Picture: PATRICK GEE

There were four public representations on the planning application, with one raising concerns about the potential effect of construction works on Richmond if more traffic chose to divert through the historic town.

Concerns were raised about the potential effects particularly on the town’s historic bridge, buildings and resident amenity.

Traffic lines up along the Tasman Highway near the Hobart airport roundabout.

Officers commented that council engineers had become aware of “a noticeable change in peak traffic flows through Richmond recently, which can be attributed to vehicles avoiding

the congestion experienced on the Cambridge/Sorell route”.

“The Richmond Bridge is a significant part of Tasmania’s heritage and is managed by the Department of State Growth,” the council report stated.

“It will be in the interest of all parties to ensure capacity of the Tasman Highway, at Cambridge, is maintained or improved during construction.

“Council officers will continue to monitor traffic volumes in Richmond and will work with DSG to resolve issues if they present.”