Hobart commuters will face significant travel disruptions from next week as work continues on a pipeline that will soon relocate the city’s sewerage system.
The Domain Highway and Queens Walk will be closed for up to 10 days from October 1, forcing drivers to find alternative routes during the peak construction phase.
The closures are needed to install a 4.3-kilometre pipeline connecting Macquarie Point to Selfs Point as part of TasWater’s largest infrastructure project to date.
Queens Walk will be completely closed between Bellevue Parade and Domain Highway from October 1-10.
Domain Highway will face a mix of full overnight closures and single-lane restrictions between the Tasman Bridge and Brooker Highway.
The pipeline is the centrepiece of a three-part project that will see the aging Macquarie Point Sewage Treatment Plant replaced with a compact pump station.
All wastewater will then be pumped to an upgraded Selfs Point facility, which will nearly triple its capacity from nine to 25 megalitres daily.
Drivers are being urged to use the Brooker Highway as the main alternative route, with an extra 15 minutes travel time expected during construction.
TasWater says the schedule could shift depending on weather, with final road sealing to follow in the weeks after construction.
The existing Macquarie Point plant currently handles waste from Hobart’s CBD, Battery Point and inner suburbs.
The 1972-built Selfs Point facility serves outer areas including Sandy Bay, New Town and Mount Stuart.
Once complete, the consolidated system will remove “tonnes of nitrogen and phosphorus from the Derwent River every year,” improving marine health in the estuary.
It will also open up the Macquarie Point waterfront site for future development.
