Athllon Drive duplication


Current update

Southern section

Detailed design of the southern section of the Athllon Drive duplication project between Sulwood Drive and Drakeford Drive continues to progress, with planning approvals to be submitted in May 2025.

Enabling works have been funded in the 2024-25 ACT Budget, with $8.6 million jointly funded by the ACT and Australian Governments. These works are taking place to make the future construction works safer for workers, as well as path and road users.

The first package of enabling works commenced in October 2024. These path improvements on the northern side of Athllon Drive between Sulwood Drive and Atkins Street were reopened in late December 2024. Line marking and the new streetlights on this section of path are also now complete.

Procurement is underway for an additional package s of enabling works, including new path connections, missing links, path lighting and utility service relocations, with the tenders currently being evaluated.

Northern section

The design is underway, ahead of environmental and planning approvals to be lodged in 2025. A preliminary design will be prepared and shared with the community in 2025, prior to planning and environmental approvals being sought. The planning and environmental approvals and final design will be required prior to the commencement of construction.

The intersection of Athllon Drive and Shea Street has been upgraded with traffic lights, paving the way for greater access to the future Woden bus depot and supporting the upcoming duplication of Athllon Drive.

Further updates will be provided on this page.

Page last reviewed 01 May 2025

Project description

Construction is underway on Athllon Drive duplication.

This project is the duplication and upgrade of the 2 remaining unduplicated sections of Athllon Drive:

  • the southern section between Sulwood Drive and Drakeford Drive in Tuggeranong, which is approximately 2.4 kilometres long.
  • the northern section from Hindmarsh Drive to Melrose Drive adjacent to the Phillip business district, which is approximately 600 metres long.

This will improve travel times and safety for all transport modes including walking, cycling, public transport and driving, as well as considering light rail which is planned to be constructed in this transport corridor in the future.

Athllon Drive is a busy arterial road extending south from the Woden Town Centre, past the Mawson Group Centre, through to the Tuggeranong Town Centre. Two rapid bus routes, cyclists and nearly 2,000 vehicles currently use this road every hour during peak periods.

The current developments in Greenway and around Woden are generating additional demand within this arterial transport corridor. Future development in and around Athllon Drive is also identified in the Woden and Tuggeranong District Strategies. The residents who move into these areas of urban infill in the future will also generate additional demand within this arterial transport corridor.

The unduplicated sections of the road are bottlenecks which result in congestion, travel time delays and reduced safety and amenity in the area.

Southern section: Sulwood Drive to Drakeford Drive

Detailed design began in 2023. We are currently preparing for the submission of planning and environmental approvals for the southern section of the upgrade. A public notification period is a requirement of the planning approval process.

Numerous site investigations have been undertaken to inform the design, including measuring Gang-gang Cockatoo hollows in trees, undertaking road pavement assessments and noise monitoring.

The main construction works are expected to take around 2-3 years to complete and are subject to environmental and planning approvals and successful procurement processes.

Preliminary design

View the preliminary design (PDF 585.7 KB).

In addition to duplicating Athllon Drive to provide 2 lanes in both directions, the following features are proposed:

  • A new underpass to provide a free-flowing active travel route via the C4 walking and cycling path under Sulwood Drive.
  • Part-time traffic lights on the Athllon Drive/Sulwood Drive roundabout to improve traffic flow.
  • New bus stops in the vicinity of the underpasses between the Sulwood Drive and Langdon Avenue/Atkins Street intersections to improve public transport access.
  • New traffic lights at the Athllon Drive/Langdon Avenue/Atkins Street intersection.
  • The southbound Park and Ride bus stop will be rebuilt on the new duplicated carriageway, and the northbound stop will be retained.
  • New traffic lights at the Athllon Drive/Vosper Street and Athllon Drive/Fincham Crescent intersections.
  • Widening and upgrade of existing underpass bridges and constructing a new bridge for the duplicated carriageway.
  • Improvements to the C4 walking and cycling path and connecting paths.
  • Water quality measures to reduce pollution from water run-off from Athllon Drive to Lake Tuggeranong.

Additional information

View and download the engagement report (548.6 KB) for the southern section of Athllon Drive.

Northern section: Hindmarsh Drive to Melrose Drive

Concept design

  • Duplication of traffic lanes on Athllon Drive.
  • Signalisation of the Melrose Drive intersection (with a retaining wall adjacent to Yarralumla Creek).
  • Upgrade bus stops for rapid and local bus services.
  • Upgrade the intersection at Shea Street.
  • Active travel provisions for cyclists and pedestrians including paths and crossings via the intersections.
  • Signalise the intersection of Parramatta Street and Athllon Drive.
  • Bus priority measures.
  • Adjustments to pedestrian bridge over Yarralumla Creek including linkages to paths and new Parramatta Street intersection traffic signals.
  • Provide raised median between carriageways.

Stay up to date

Images

Click on an image below to view full screen.

Renders of Athllon Drive and locality map

Aerial view of Athllon Dr with text boxes Athllon Drive round-about render with text boxesAthllon Drive render with text boxesAthllon Drive render with red car on road and text boxesAthllon Drive and Vosper Street render with text boxes

Photos of Athllon Drive

Athllon DriveAthllon Drive

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as traditional custodians of the ACT and recognise any other people or families with connection to the lands of the ACT and region. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.

To see how we are building stronger relationships with the Traditional Custodians of the ACT view the Reconciliation Action Plan.