Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / DIPL Project Director Chris Pick says construction of the bridge on the Tiger Brennan Drive overpass will soon get underway, with motorists warned about road closures

Transcript

DIPL Project Director Chris Pick says construction of the bridge on the Tiger Brennan Drive overpass will soon get underway, with motorists warned about road closures · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: As plenty of you will know, Tiger Brennan Drive and
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: beharram A road overpass is going full steam ahead, with
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: construction of the bridge set to begin in the coming weeks.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: The project does come after a number of fatalities and
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: crashes at the intersection, and it aims to improve safety
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: for the twenty thousand vehicles that use it each.
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  Speaker 2: And every day.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: Now, joining me on the line to give us a
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: bit of an update on the works is Chris Pick,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: who is the project director. Good morning to you, Chris.
• 0:27
  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie, Thanks so much for your.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Time this morning.
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  Speaker 1: Chris, what work or how is the overpass coming along?
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  Speaker 3: Firstly, the overpass is coming along quite well. The weather's
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: hampering us at the moment, but that's a usual challenge
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: for us when we're constructing in the wet season. But
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: we're just about to launch into the exciting next phase
• 0:52
  Speaker 3: of the project, which is construction of the bridge for
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: that will form the overpass and taking Barrama Tiger Brandon Drive.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: And so when will the work on the bridge begin?
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  Speaker 1: Are we just sort of waiting at the moment with
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  Speaker 1: this wet weather to pass.
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  Speaker 3: We are, We've got we've got a date set for
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: a closure of Barram Road between the existing intersection of
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  Speaker 3: TVD and Marlow Road, which will allow us to start
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  Speaker 3: the bridge works. And in order to accommodate that road closure,
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  Speaker 3: we've just got to finish off some intersection upgrade works
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  Speaker 3: that are being taken or being undertaken elsewhere in the
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  Speaker 3: road network at Amy Johnson Stuart Highway intersection and also
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  Speaker 3: Tivindale Road and Stuart Highway intersection, which will assist with
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  Speaker 3: the increase in traffic that we'll see there once the
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  Speaker 3: section of Baram Road is shut.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Chris, what impact while that work is underway?
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  Speaker 1: What impact is it going to have on motorists and
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  Speaker 1: you know, is it going to change the way that
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  Speaker 1: they've got to get to work each day?
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  Speaker 2: I'm assuming it will.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, Well, a certain part of the community will be
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  Speaker 3: affected by it, absolutely so, given that we're shutting that
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  Speaker 3: piece of road between Marloy Road, which is if for
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  Speaker 3: people that travel along Barham Road and through that Barramer
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  Speaker 3: area at the bottom of the Hallerbry School area there
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  Speaker 3: and Tiger Berennon Drive won't be able to facilitate that
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  Speaker 3: flow of traffic to and from Tiger Brennon Drive into
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  Speaker 3: Barrama or out of Burramo, So those people that work
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  Speaker 3: there or go to the school there won't be able
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  Speaker 3: to use Barramut Road obviously, so they'll have to use
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  Speaker 3: alternate routes using the existing raid network. And depending on
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  Speaker 3: what type of ky you have is probably the more
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  Speaker 3: choices you've got. But as I said before, we're carrying
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  Speaker 3: out some intersection upgrade works at Tivendale Road and Amy
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  Speaker 3: John So there are two alternate routes. You can get
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  Speaker 3: from Tiger Ben and drive up to Stuart Highway and
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  Speaker 3: then duck into Burma Road at the intersection there on
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  Speaker 3: Stuart Highway. And there's also an opportunity for the smaller
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  Speaker 3: vehicles to use Hidden Valley Road and take a back
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  Speaker 3: road back into Bremer that way.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Right, so that is where you'd said that it will
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  Speaker 1: be depending on what kind of car you've got.
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  Speaker 3: Well, indeed, you know there's the different roads can have
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  Speaker 3: different capacity or capacity for different sized vehicles. So road
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  Speaker 3: trains aren't aren't suitable to travel on Hidden Valley roads,
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  Speaker 3: so they'll take an alternate route that's more suited to them,
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  Speaker 3: whereas the smaller light of vehicles have greater options.
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  Speaker 1: Now, how long will some of this work take and
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  Speaker 1: how long will those you know, will those diversions be
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  Speaker 1: in place?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, okay, Well, I mean ultimately completion of the whole
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  Speaker 3: of the overpass works not due till the end of
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  Speaker 3: twenty twenty four. This initials of Baramuroade will be between
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: nine to twelve months, all depending on some of the
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  Speaker 3: ground conditions that we find there and the wet weather,
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  Speaker 3: so that will be nine to twelve months. And then
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  Speaker 3: once that works is completed, we will have realigned Tiger
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  Speaker 3: bread and Drive and the new section Tiger bread and
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  Speaker 3: Drive under the bridge will be complete. The bridge will
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  Speaker 3: can be complete and some of the new access ramps
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  Speaker 3: between Tiger brend And Drive and Baramroade will be open.
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  Speaker 1: Now, Chris, I know that there's been some reporting this
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  Speaker 1: morning by the ABC that there has been a major cost.
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  Speaker 2: Blowout to the project.
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  Speaker 1: What is the total cost of the project as it
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  Speaker 1: stands at the moment.
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  Speaker 3: Total budget for the project is one hundred and sixty
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  Speaker 3: five million dollars and that funding is split fifty to
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  Speaker 3: fifty between the Northern Territory government and the Australian government.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, and so was it initially substantially less than that.
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  Speaker 3: The original budget was less than that. Yes, and we
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  Speaker 3: have seen an increase in budget, and so from.
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  Speaker 2: Your perspective, what sort of caused that increase?
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  Speaker 3: Well, a number of factors. The projectors is far more
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  Speaker 3: complex and maybe original estimates we've during the course. Once
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  Speaker 3: we started the project and got a contractor on board
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  Speaker 3: and their designers, we were able to get out there
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  Speaker 3: and undertake some targeted site investigations which uncovered some interesting
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  Speaker 3: ground conditions we have to address. The works are on
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  Speaker 3: a major freight route, so it accommodates, you know, the
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  Speaker 3: large freight vehicles road trains that travel between Tiger bread
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  Speaker 3: And Drive and the East Import, so to accommodate their requirements.
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  Speaker 3: The project is quite significant. Just as an indication of
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  Speaker 3: what we'll be looking at down the track. The actual
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  Speaker 3: embankment fill that we'll be putting in place to take
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  Speaker 3: Berramer over the new Tiger bren And Drive will be
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  Speaker 3: about nine and a half ten meters above the existing
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  Speaker 3: intersection level.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah right, so make it's a massive change.
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  Speaker 3: Well, absolutely, I mean, the road trains are big vehicles.
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  Speaker 3: They take up a lot of road space, particularly when
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  Speaker 3: they're turning corners that they'll have to do at the
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  Speaker 3: new intersections we're forming on Burromer Road, and the grade
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  Speaker 3: or the slape of the road needs to accommodate these
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  Speaker 3: vehicles because fully loaded, you don't want to be on
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  Speaker 3: a very steep slope taking off for many traffic lights.
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  Speaker 3: So that we'll be placing there.
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  Speaker 1: And I know that you said, or you mentioned just
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  Speaker 1: a moment ago some issues with the ground.
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  Speaker 2: I may have.
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  Speaker 1: Paraphrased there, Chris, you might have said it differently to
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  Speaker 1: that made But what do you mean, what was the
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  Speaker 1: concern with that?
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  Speaker 3: Look, you know, it's the geo technical conditions. Part of
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  Speaker 3: the site is sort of in past is a pretty
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  Speaker 3: low lying area. So we've just got to make sure
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  Speaker 3: that we undertake the right foundation preparations so that we
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  Speaker 3: limit any long term settlement in the embankment, because any
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  Speaker 3: settlement that may occur in the embankment would be reflected
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  Speaker 3: in the road road surface. And we certainly want to
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  Speaker 3: make sure that over the longer term that we've got
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  Speaker 3: a good quality road pavement and and you know, so
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  Speaker 3: we've just got to take under the undertake those works.
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  Speaker 3: We also found some contamination on site, which we've been
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  Speaker 3: addressed throughout last year. Some of the clean up there,
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  Speaker 3: and look, you know, Darwin is Darwin. Unfortunately, we've come
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  Speaker 3: across some of these legacy issues that were left there
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  Speaker 3: from years gone by, and we've just got to get
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  Speaker 3: in there and do the right thing, you know, and
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  Speaker 3: clean up the site to make sure that it's right
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  Speaker 3: to carry out the permanent works.
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, Is it like an asbestos issue or something else.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, we did find some some asbestos there, and you know,
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  Speaker 3: we've got the right contractor and the right people that
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: were able to manage that suitably.
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  Speaker 1: Hey, I know that I did just get a message
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  Speaker 1: someone asking what the change is going to mean or
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: what the diversions are going to mean as well for
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the emergency vehicles with that closure, given the fact that
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  Speaker 1: the fire station isn't too far away from where we're discussing.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, obviously they police emergency services and the MBOs
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  Speaker 3: won't be able to travel through that area because it's
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  Speaker 3: going to be fully closed off and untraffickable. They are
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  Speaker 3: a key stakeholder that the department deals with, and so
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  Speaker 3: once it was determined that the best outcome for the
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  Speaker 3: project was to close that piece of road, we go
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  Speaker 3: out to our stakeholders and we walk through the issues
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: with them and understand what the impacts are to their movements,
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  Speaker 3: and we had a terrific reception from them. They understand
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  Speaker 3: what the work's entailed and the reasons behind it, and
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  Speaker 3: they were able to accommodate it, and they will be
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  Speaker 3: able to accommodate it in what they're doing. So, Chris,
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  Speaker 3: I know when it's the important The important thing to
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  Speaker 3: say about the upcoming road closure is there's no actual
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  Speaker 3: impact to traffic on Tiger Berendon Drive, So anyone traveling
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  Speaker 3: between Palmerston and the city will still be able to
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  Speaker 3: travel along Tiger Brennon Drive unaffected the current intersection baron
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  Speaker 3: the road we'll still operate as an intersection, albeit we'll
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  Speaker 3: only have three legs running into it as opposed to
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  Speaker 3: the current four. So you know, a vast majority of
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  Speaker 3: people that are traveling along Tiger Brendon Drive or accessing
• 9:54
  Speaker 3: the port in the East arm area to the south,
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  Speaker 3: it's business as usual for this first first closure.
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  Speaker 2: Chris, So I know that.
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  Speaker 1: You know, whenever there's significant changes to roads, and particularly
• 10:05
  Speaker 1: with a massive project like this, you know there'll be
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  Speaker 1: people in the community going, why do we need to
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  Speaker 1: do this, what's the reason behind it? But there is
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  Speaker 1: a few reasons behind us, sort of planning for the future.
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  Speaker 1: I guess when it comes to this very major upgrade.
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  Speaker 3: Isn't there absolutely? I mean that the original initiative for
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  Speaker 3: this project was some funding for road safety. Unfortunately, we've
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  Speaker 3: seen some pretty nasty incidents at the intersection and some
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  Speaker 3: of them have resulted in fatalities. That the current geometry
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  Speaker 3: of Baram Road leading into the intersection is suboptimal, as
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  Speaker 3: i'd say, so there was a need to create or
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  Speaker 3: to improve the road safety there. This intersection has been
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  Speaker 3: ear marked for an upgrade and the creation of this
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  Speaker 3: interchange or grade separated interchange in the master planning for
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: a long time. So by undertaking it we can address
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  Speaker 3: the road safety issues. It provides road users with improved
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: traffic flow, reduced delays because there's one less intersection, particularly
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: if you're traveling along Tiger Bridge and drive, there's one
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  Speaker 3: less set of traffic lights that you have to go through,
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  Speaker 3: and it will help more efficient movement for those vehicles
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  Speaker 3: to and from the East Arm area.
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  Speaker 1: Churse, just before I let you go, what's the next
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  Speaker 1: stage of work after the bridge is built? Well?
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  Speaker 3: Once we've built the bridge, completed the realignment of Tiger
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  Speaker 3: brew And Drive and opened up some of the excess ramps,
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  Speaker 3: then the second stage is to close Bermi Road to
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  Speaker 3: the south of the existing intersection or crossings in existing
• 11:48
  Speaker 3: intersection and to the south to complete the road embankment there,
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  Speaker 3: and that will occur from early next year through until
• 11:57
  Speaker 3: the end of next year. The key point about that
• 12:01
  Speaker 3: is that that will have more of an effect for
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: people traveling to and from the East Armport area and
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: to sort of address the increased traffic flow that we'll
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: see there is later this year we'll be doing some
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  Speaker 3: targeted upgrade works at the intersection of Tiger burn and
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  Speaker 3: Drive and Wishart Road and also Wishart Road and Kirkland Road,
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  Speaker 3: so there'll be increased capacity there for people to make
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: turning movements. And that intersection has performances degraded over the
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: years since it was still built, so it'll address both
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: the short term needs of the second closure, but it
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  Speaker 3: will also provide a long term benefit for people that
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: use that route to get to Kirklan Road and the
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: East Armport.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Chris Pek, I really appreciate your time this morning
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: and answering all of those questions for us, there was
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: lots for us to ask. Thanks very much for coming
• 12:59
  Speaker 1: on this show this morning. Much appreciated you too, mate.
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: Thank you