Advocacy Update: Raising London Circuit and light rail

Mike Watson

As of 12/09/2025

General congestion

Building and general construction will be going on for some time now in inner Canberra, and we’ll have to deal with that. Car drivers are rightly unhappy as they experience more congestion and delays, less predictable journey times and sometimes more cost in their working journeys.

Have you noticed who is not complaining about congestion and delays? It seems to be people using light rail, pedestrians and bike riders. Light rail users have reliable journey times at a known cost, and both bike riders and pedestrians can still get through the paths and routes provided for them through or around the building sites.

It’s much easier to keep footpaths and bike lanes open through a building site compared with reserving spaces for cars, and the space taken by one person walking or riding is a lot less than the space needed for one car driver.

The bike and foot routes have changed frequently when holes in the road were being dug and backfilled to maintain a good journey route, and direction signs have almost always been adjusted to direct you correctly to your destination.

Unless there are compelling reasons, bike riding really is frequently the most convenient way to get around this town during the considerable period of construction presently facing us.

What’s happening at London Circuit?

The ‘Raising London Circuit’ project is starting to wind up. The southern half of London Circuit is now open, and it is absolutely gorgeous for pedestrians and bike riders with huge footpaths and bike paths on both sides. It’s worth going for a ride just to see how nice a new bit of infrastructure can look!

The west side of London Circuit will remain closed to motor transport for about the next 2 years while the rail line is being built. The east side is now open to motor vehicles; however, they can only go left toward Parliament at Commonwealth Avenue, which makes life a bit simpler for bike riders.

The new footpaths on either side of Commonwealth Avenue going towards the bridge are being worked on. These paths cover a lot of big underground infrastructure, so it will be a while until they become available to bike riders. We’ll keep an eye on progress.

Road closures

Northbourne Avenue will close at the north end of London Circuit over four weekends, planned for the last two weeks in September and the first two weeks in October (unless there are delays).

And now for something completely different.

The two-way multi user bike path beside Swinden Street Rail Stop on the west side of Northbourne Avenue is planned to be closed for six weeks. Yes, this is beside stage 1 light rail, and a long way away from every other part of Stage 2. If you do not want to ride on the road past Swinden Street northbound on Northbourne Avenue, it will be a good idea to cross from the west side of Northbourne Avenue at the Mouat St/ Anthill St traffic lights and use the service road and bike paths on the east side of Northbourne Avenue instead, which provide a good, quiet alternative.

We have been told there will be clear and unambiguous temporary bike direction signage to guide you past this road closure, and we shall keep an eye on the signage to make sure it doesn’t leave bike riders in doubt about where to go.

I asked why this is happening: It’s to build a new ‘traction power station’. I think it is needed because more power must be supplied to the trains to charge their batteries to travel across the parliamentary triangle, where there will be no power. After all, there will be no catenary power lines.