Monaro Highway upgrade

The Monaro Highway upgrade will improve road safety and create faster travel for Tuggeranong, the Woden Valley and southern New South Wales.

Funding: $230.5 million, jointly funded by the Australian and ACT governments

Overview

The Monaro Highway upgrade is a long-term series of road improvements that will create improved safety, freight efficiency and faster and smoother commutes.

The Australian and ACT governments have committed $230 million to delivering 2 sections of the Monaro Highway upgrade under the Investment Road and Rail Program. The first section was completed in July 2020. It delivered critical safety improvements, including a new overtaking lane on the Monaro Highway south of Canberra, between Old Cooma Road and Williamsdale Road.

Work has now begun on a new flyover and interchange at the intersection of Lanyon Drive and the Monaro Highway in Hume.

Preliminary design work is also underway on possible future upgrades at other locations along the Monaro Highway. These include potential new grade separated interchanges at Mugga Lane/Tralee Street/Sheppard Street in Hume and at Isabella Drive. These interchanges are projects of interest subject to future government consideration. Preliminary design of the Isabella Drive interchange will include possible future connections into New South Wales.

View the potential future work in Hume and at Isabella Drive [PDF 42 MB].

Community benefits

• The first stage of the project led to improved safety due to the creation of:
  • safety barriers
  • a new overtaking lane
  • a wider median strip
  • a new left-turn slip lane for southbound traffic
  • sealed shoulders.
• Faster and smoother commutes and freight journeys due to:
  • new lanes
  • flyovers
  • intersections
  • on- and off-ramps.

Project features

Lanyon Drive Interchange

The Lanyon Drive interchange has been split into 3 stages of work. This ensures construction can begin on the elements that have fewer environmental constraints and associated planning approvals.

The three stages include:

• Package 1A (complete)
  • Works commenced in January 2022 and included relocation and protection of major water mains and telecommunication networks. This work was completed in early 2023. Two gas main relocations started in October 2023 and were completed in February 2024.
• Package 1B (current construction works)
  • A new southbound flyover on the Monaro Highway over Lanyon Drive (including 3-metre-wide sealed shoulders).
  • The highway road pavement upgraded from David Warren Road, near the Alexander Maconochie Centre, through to Sheppard Street in Hume (including 3-metre-wide sealed shoulders).
  • A new widened bridge on the northbound road over Dog Trap Creek/Woden Creek just north of Lanyon Drive. This includes an improved northbound merge from Lanyon Drive onto the Monaro Highway.
  • The new bridge structure will have Indigenous artwork applied to some of the external elements.
• Package 1C (works approval pending)
  • A roundabout at the intersection of the new Monaro Highway southbound off-ramp and David Warren Road extension.
  • Upgrading the signalised intersection at Lanyon Drive and Sheppard Street to 4 ways to include a direct connection to the David Warren Road extension and the southbound off-ramp.
  • Traffic lights removed at the Alexander Maconochie Centre intersection (David Warren Road).

View the key features of the Lanyon Drive Interchange work [PDF 3.3 MB].

Hume Interchange

Possible features include:

• A new flyover connecting Mugga Lane and Tralee Street in Hume.
• Modification of Monaro Highway/Sheppard Street intersection to allow left-in/left-out only movements to and from the Hume Industrial Precinct.
• Upgrades to the Mugga Lane/John Cory Road roundabout and associated lanes approaching the new Hume flyover. A new northbound on ramp could also potentially be added.
• Upgrades to the streets and intersections within the Hume industrial precinct. This includes the Tralee Street approach to the Monaro Highway and the intersection of Tralee and Sheppard streets.

Isabella Drive Interchange

Possible features include:

• A new flyover built over the Isabella Drive extension.
• Isabella Drive extended from the existing Monaro Highway roundabout. This would include a new roundabout connecting to Tralee Street south.
• A Monaro Highway southbound off-ramp and associated lanes. These would connect to the Isabella Drive extension.
• New lanes built running parallel with the Monaro Highway northbound road between Isabella Drive and Mugga Lane. These would assist traffic entering and exiting the highway.

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• Email the project team at InfrastructureCanberra@act.gov.au

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