Barton Highway duplication Preferred road corridor boundaries report NOVEMBER 2011 RMS 11.116 ISBN 978-1-922040-05-3 Quality control Manidis Roberts Pty Ltd ABN 42 003 550 972 Our reference 09089 Level 9, 17 York Street, Sydney NSW 2000 | GPO Box 91, Sydney NSW 2001 Version number 8 T (02) 9248 9800 | F (02) 9248 9810 | [email protected] | www.manidisroberts.com.au Date November 2011 Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Purpose of this report 1 1.2 Background to the project 1 1.2.1 Project overview 1 1.2.2 Why do this now? 2 1.3 Study corridor 2 1.4 Consultation history 4 1.4.1 Consultation documentation 4 1.4.2 General consultation 5 1.4.3 PEI consultation 5 2 Project objectives 7 2.1 Regional transport needs 7 2.2 Safety 7 2.3 Traffic capacity 7 2.4 Future growth 8 3 Corridor constraints 9 3.1 Engineering and design constraints 9 3.1.1 Tie–in with existing infrastructure 9 3.1.2 Current road design standards 9 3.1.3 Access and interchange arrangements 9 3.1.4 Constructability and operational considerations 10 3.2 Environmental constraints 10 3.2.1 Aboriginal heritage 10 3.2.2 Non-Aboriginal heritage 11 3.2.3 Noise 11 3.2.4 Soil and water 11 3.2.5 Ecology 11 3.2.6 Visual amenity/landscape 11 3.2.7 Socio-economic considerations 12 3.2.8 Contaminated land 12 3.2.9 Additional assessment 12 4 Decision making process 13 4.1 Process 13 4.2 Output 14 5 Recent consultation activities 15 5.1 Summary of issues raised during recent consultation 15 5.1.1 Public display and information sessions 15 5.1.2 One–on–one discussions with property owners 16 5.1.3 Discussions with Aboriginal knowledge holders 16 6 Design refinements 17 6.1 16.0km to 16.5km from Canberra – curve improvement 17 6.2 20.5km to 20.8km from Canberra – Rolfe Road boundary adjustment 17 6.3 20.5km to 23.5km from Canberra – median width adjustment 17 6.4 22.1km to 23.0km from Canberra – removal of service road 17 6.5 24.0km to 27.0km from Canberra – change to proposed new carriageway location 18 6.6 31.0km to 33.2km from Canberra – adjusted alignment 18 6.7 31.6km to 31.9km from Canberra – Gooda Creek Road boundary adjustment 19 6.8 33.3km to 33.8km from Canberra – Vallencia Drive intersection adjustments 19 6.9 33.4km to 34.3km from Canberra – west side service road adjustments 19 6.10 34.3km to 35.0km from Canberra – Euroka Avenue interchange adjustments 19 6.11 34.6km to 36.0km from Canberra – east side service road changes 20 6.12 34.6km to 41.5km from Canberra – median crossovers near Murrumbateman 20 6.13 37.3km to 37.7km from Canberra – Murrumbateman Road overpass adjustment 20 6.14 38.8km to 39.2km from Canberra – Hillview Road overpass adjustment 21 6.15 39.9km to 41.3km from Canberra – boundary adjustment 21 7 The refined highway corridor 22 7.1 Description of refined highway corridor 22 7.2 Where to from here? 22 Appendix A – Overview of proposed road corridor 23 Appendix B – Barton Highway decisions matrix 63 Appendix C – Submissions report 81 Figures Figure 1.1 Barton Highway study corridor 3 Tables Table 1.1 Overview of issues raised by government agencies during preparation of the PEI 5 1 Introduction 1.1 Purpose of this report The purpose of this report is to: • Provide an overview of investigations and consultation undertaken to determine the road corridor boundaries for the future duplication of the Barton Highway between the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) border and the existing dual carriageway just south of the Yass River. The road corridor boundaries were submitted to Yass Valley Council for inclusion in the development of the council Local Environmental Plan (LEP) on 29 April 2011. This document reflects investigations and consultation from May 2010 to 29 April 2011. • Document the process of evaluation in determining the road corridor boundaries for the future duplication of the Barton Highway. This includes identification of environmental constraints, community business and government stakeholder requirements, Aboriginal and European heritage issues and engineering considerations that have influenced the corridor selection process. • Clearly describe the outcomes of the evaluation process, including: – Identification of how the decision making process has considered issues raised by the community at or as a result of the public display of the proposed road boundaries and concept design held in late May 2010. – Identification of how the decision making process has considered issues raised by the community or other stakeholders throughout the planning process – Identification of how the decision making process has considered any environmental, heritage or other issues in determining the road corridor boundaries. – A description of the preferred road corridor boundaries for the future duplication of the Barton Highway. 1.2 Background to the project 1.2.1 Project overview The Australian Government is funding the planning process for the future duplication of the existing single carriageway sections of the Barton Highway between the ACT border and the dual carriageways north of Murrumbateman. The Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) is managing the planning process. In 2008, a 200 metre wide corridor was identified along which various studies and investigations would occur. The study corridor extends for about 32.5 kilometres from the ACT border to the southern extent of the Barton Highway’s existing dual carriageway arrangement about 7.4 kilometres southeast of Yass (refer to Figure 1.1). Within the study corridor the Barton Highway is a single carriageway facility (one lane in either direction). It connects the dual carriageway south of the ACT border to the dual carriageway approximately 8.5km south of the Hume Highway. It generally follows the existing highway except for the bypass of Murrumbateman and the Gounyan curves deviation. The Murrumbateman bypass follows the “outer eastern” route declared by the Australian Government in October 2001. Barton Highway duplication 1 Roads and Maritime Services In 2009, Aurecon Australia Pty Ltd was engaged to carry out a preliminary environmental investigation of the corridor. The information gained from investigations and preliminary environmental studies was used to propose which side of the existing highway a new carriageway should be built and where the road boundaries should be located. In 2010 the proposed road boundaries and concept design were placed on public display for comment. This community and stakeholder feedback has been used to refine the concept design and finalise the road corridor boundaries. 1.2.2 Why do this now? Determining road boundaries for future duplication of the Barton Highway is being undertaken for several reasons: • To allow the RMS to identify properties impacted by the proposed road corridor boundaries and thereby provide the owners of those properties with certainty around the requirements for property acquisition that would be necessary to secure the road corridor. • Give options to property owners directly affected by the project under the provisions of the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991. • Provide for the integration of the road corridor boundaries into Yass Valley Council’s Local Environmental Plan (LEP). 1.3 Study corridor The 200 metre wide primary study corridor was defined at the public display in May 2008. The Preliminary Environmental Investigation (PEI) involved an initial desktop investigation area of 500 metres either side of the centre line of the study corridor. Targeted environmental investigations were subsequently undertaken at areas of environmental sensitivity within the primary study corridor. Figure 1.1 identifies the study corridor for the proposed future duplication. 2 Barton Highway duplication Roads and Maritime Services Figure 1.1 Barton Highway study corridor Barton Highway duplication 3 Roads and Maritime Services 1.4 Consultation history 1.4.1 Consultation documentation The future duplication of the Barton Highway has been the subject of various investigations over a number of years. Figure 1.2 provides an overview of the consultation undertaken regarding this proposed project. Communications material relating to the proposed future duplication of the Barton Highway is included on the RMS’s website: http://www.rms.nsw.gov.au Figure 1.2 Barton Highway future duplication consultation overview Item Timing Detail Your property and RMS January 2008 A general fact sheet that provides information regarding the process for projects acquisition of privately owned land by the RMS under the Roads Act, 1993 and the Land Acquisition (Just Terms Compensation) Act 1991 to provide new or better road infrastructure. NB. An updated version of this document was issued in April 2011 with minor changes to some document references where these have changed or been updated. Barton Highway Safety February 2008 A document outlining the results of a review of road safety on the Barton Review Highway between the ACT border and the Hume Highway. Display panel and flip May 2008 The display panel provided details of the study corridor for the proposed chart future duplication. The flip chart provided the same information with a more detailed scale. Information on the benefits of the proposed future duplication, upcoming planning activities, property acquisition process and timing and details of upcoming information displays were included. Frequently asked May 2008 This FAQ sheet answered commonly asked community questions about questions and answers the project including information on investigations being undertaken, the extent of the proposed study corridor, property acquisition process, commencement of construction works, commentary on noise attenuation measures and an overview of ‘where to from here’.