24 July 2020

Michael Ferguson, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport

Improving safety and travel reliability in Greater Launceston

The Tasmanian Liberal Government is committed to transforming the way people live and travel in and around Launceston, with a focus on safety and travel reliability.

In partnership with the six regional northern councils of Launceston, Dorset, George Town, Meander Valley, West Tamar and Northern Midlands, we have today launched our Greater Launceston Transport Vision.

This is the result of nearly two years of collaboration between the Tasmania Government, the northern councils and key stakeholders, and will guide the way the Greater Launceston region plans, builds and operates its transport network.

The Greater Launceston Transport Vision builds on the Tasmanian Government’s $92.5 million Launceston and Tamar Valley Traffic Vision election policy, which set out a range of commitments to improve safety and reduce congestion, including:

• A $1.5 million road swap to assume control of Launceston’s key road couplet of Wellington and Bathurst Streets, to enable us to take a holistic regional approach to managing traffic flow
• Investing $40 million to expand capacity of the Charles Street  Bridge and redesigning the local Invermay road network to address congestion caused by commercial growth and the expansion of the University
• Committing $2.5 million to undertake feasibility, consultation and preliminary design and survey work to determine the constructability of a new Tamar River crossing
• Investing $6 million in upgrades to the Batman Highway
• $7 million in works to address the safety concerns at the Mowbray Connector intersection
• Four priority projects on the West Tamar Highway, which will begin in the coming months, and form part of our $14 million package of works.

The Greater Launceston Transport Vision, which will be implemented over the next five years, incorporates six major elements of liveability:

• Safe
• Attractive
• Connected
• Equitable and accessible
• Efficient
• Sustainable

The 23 objectives in the Vision all relate to one or more of these key elements for a more liveable Launceston.

The community is invited to provide their feedback on the Vision and the six key elements. Feedback is open online until September 4, 2020.

To view the video and have your say, visit https://greaterlauncestontransportvision.com/

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