Eight months after its completion, a brand-new bus interchange on the Channel Highway in Kingston remains unused due to a design dispute between the Department of State Growth and Kingborough Council.
The $300,000 stop, part of the larger Hobart City Deal, has been the subject of discussions between the two organisations since its construction.
State Growth identified several design flaws in the council-built project earlier in the year that needed to be addressed before the interchange could be used.
A spokesperson told Pulse it was “disappointing indeed” that $300,000 stop was yet to welcome passengers.
“The Department raised concerns with the design repeatedly through the process but these concerns were not addressed,” the spokesperson said.
“Council has subsequently developed a proposed interchange design that seeks to address the concerns raised.”
At a recent council meeting, CEO Dave Stewart said feedback from State Growth, Metro and other bus operators had been incorporated into the updated design.
“The next stage will be spending time on site with them to really make sure that together we understand what the calibration of the bus stop is, what the operational requirements will be at that site so there can be no further debate about what’s right or wrong,” he said.
“And then we’ll be moving to final delivery of minor changes at that site to make it operational.”
Stewart, who joined the council in April, also acknowledged that they may have played a role in the delays, saying: “I would not like to say that we don’t have any responsibility as part of this process.”
“However, it’s clear that there has been some difference of opinion about where, what has been agreed in the past.”
He claimed the designs that went through State Growth “were the designs that were delivered that they agreed to at the time”.
“However, how fully we consulted with all parties, including the operators through that process, obviously, if that had been as fulsome as potentially we could have done, we might have been able to mitigate some of the challenge here,” Stewart said.
The State Growth spokesperson said the on-site meeting would “ensure proposed changes will address the concerns raised and to avoid further rework”.
“Once a design is finalised and infrastructure changes are implemented to ensure it is safe and accessible, use of the interchange can commence,” they said.
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