Athllon Drive duplication

Funding: $98.55 million, jointly funded by the Australian and ACT governments.

Current updates

Enabling works

A construction contract was awarded for the second package of enabling works on the southern section of the Athllon Drive duplication project and will take around six months to complete, weather permitting.

Works are currently underway on footpath upgrades between Drakeford Drive and Sulwood Drive. Further details are available on Travel Impacts page.

Main works

The Development Application (DA) public notification period is now closed for the southern section of the Athllon Drive duplication project between Sulwood Drive and Drakeford Drive.

A tender for the main construction works will be issued in Q1 2026, pending planning approvals and procurement activities.

Project overview

Athllon Drive is a busy arterial road extending from the Woden Town Centre to the Tuggeranong Town Centre.

Two rapid bus routes, cyclists and nearly 2,000 vehicles currently use this road every hour during peak periods.

The project will duplicate the southern section between Sulwood Drive and Drakeford Drive in Tuggeranong, which is approximately 2.4 kilometres long.

Southern section

Detailed design began in 2023. We are currently preparing for the submission of planning approvals for the southern section of the upgrade. A public notification period is a requirement of the ACT planning approval process.

Numerous site investigations have been undertaken to inform the design, including measuring Gang-gang Cockatoo hollows in trees, undertaking road pavement assessments and noise monitoring.

The main construction works are expected to take around 2-3 years to complete and are subject to planning approvals and successful procurement processes.

In February 2025, construction of enabling works package 1 was completed. These path upgrade works were between Atkins Street and Sulwood Drive (on the Kambah side).

Features

• duplication of traffic lanes on Athllon Drive from Sulwood Drive to Drakeford Drive
• water quality measures to reduce pollution from water run-off from Athllon Drive to Lake Tuggeranong
• a new underpass to provide a free-flowing active travel route via the C4 walking and cycling path under Sulwood Drive
• part-time traffic lights on the Athllon Drive/Sulwood Drive roundabout to improve traffic flow
• new bus stops in the vicinity of the underpasses between the Sulwood Drive and Langdon Avenue/Atkins Street intersections to improve public transport access
• new traffic lights at the Athllon Drive/Langdon Avenue/Atkins Street intersection
• the southbound Park and Ride bus stop will be rebuilt on the new duplicated carriageway
• new traffic lights at the Athllon Drive/Vosper Street and Athllon Drive/Fincham Crescent intersections
• widening and upgrade of existing underpass bridges and constructing a new bridge for the duplicated carriageway
• improvements to the C4 walking and cycling path and connecting paths.

Preliminary design drawing (PDF 2.9MB)

Landscape plan (PDF 5.2MB)

Sustainability objectives and targets (PDF 2.6MB)

Community benefits

• improved travel times for all transport modes.
• improved safety for walking, cycling, public transport and driving.
• does not preclude light rail which may be constructed in this transport corridor in the future.

Northern section

The ACT Government is currently evaluating how best to stage the northern section of the Athllon Drive duplication to align with other key activities in the corridor, including the Southern Gateway Planning and Design Framework and the Suburban Land Agency’s land releases.  The timing of this section of the project has therefore changed.

• duplication of traffic lanes on Athllon Drive from Hindmarsh Drive to Melrose Drive
• signalisation of the Melrose Drive intersection (with a retaining wall adjacent to Yarralumla Creek)
• upgrade bus stops for rapid and local bus services
• upgrade the intersection at Shea Street
• active travel provisions for cyclists and pedestrians including paths and crossings via the intersections
• signalise the intersection of Parramatta Street and Athllon Drive.

Community engagement

Community engagement was undertaken for the preliminary design for the southern section in May 2024. View and download the engagement report (PDF 565KB).

Stay up to date

• Subscribe to receive updates on the project.
• Email the project team at InfrastructureCanberra@act.gov.au.