Work on a new busway in Perth will begin next month to help eliminate traffic congestion
Construction will begin on the dedicated Charles Street bus bridge and busway soon to deliver significant travel time savings to thousands of Perth commuters.
Construction company York Civil has been awarded the contract to design and build the projects at a cost of $32.1 million and will create about 50 to 60 new jobs. The works will begin in April, with completion expected in early 2017.
The bridge and busway will be built from the current James Street bus bridge over the Graham Farmer Freeway to Charles Street. Bus lanes will be built along Charles Street to Violet Street.
Western Australia transport minister Dean Nalder says this will result in the removal of more than 1000 buses a day from James and Fitzgerald streets in Northbridge, alleviating traffic congestion and improving local amenity and access.
“This is a great congestion buster for our city, with benefits for bus users and motorists,” he says.
“Northern suburbs passengers commuting to the CBD could have their journey times reduced by up to six minutes during peak times.
“About 16,000 passengers a day will travel over the bridge and busway.”
Nalder says the bus bridge and busway will be vital for bus reliability and to cope with growing future demands on public transport.
Key features of the project include James Street exit from Mitchell Freeway relocating to Roe Street to ease the burden on the James and Fitzgerald streets intersection, and the Cleaver and Newcastle streets intersections being modified to allow buses access to Cleaver Street.