Letter to Minister Vincent: Urgent redesign of the Park Street and Domain Highway corridor

16 September 2026

Dear Minister Vincent,

Urgent redesign of the Park Street and Domain Highway corridor

Brooker Highway New Town and Queens Domain

I am asking the Tasmanian Government to plan one joined-up upgrade from the Park Street junction through to the Domain Highway interchange. The project should make these intersections safer, reduce queuing and include a new accessible bridge for people walking, using mobility aids and riding between New Town and the Queens Domain. I also ask the Government to urgently check whether 287 or 291 Park Street may be needed while both properties are for sale.

The timing matters. The Government has committed $1 million to design a replacement for the Domain Highway and Brooker Highway cloverleaf and has called it a congestion choke point and crash hot spot. The new northern rapid bus route is also proposed to run along Park Street. These projects should be designed together before separate plans become difficult or costly to change.

I write as Chair of the City of Hobart's City Transport Committee and the Council's transport spokesperson. I am also a Hobart City Councillor and paramedic. The full proposal in this letter is my own advocacy, but two Council decisions support its main aims. In May 2025, Council agreed to lobby the State Government to make the Domain interchange a priority safety and congestion project. Council has also endorsed the North Hobart Neighbourhood Plan, which calls for easier access to the Queens Domain and a universally accessible bridge across the Brooker Highway.

One connected problem

The State's 2019 study found that the Domain interchange caused more delay and unreliable travel times than any other part of the study area. The tight cloverleaf loop was at or near capacity and queued through the day. The study also found that short merging lanes and the steep hill caused queues to back onto the Brooker Highway. It recommended replacing the loop and rebuilding the interchange so major traffic movements are separated.

Park Street cannot be treated as a separate problem. Queues can fill its slip lane and the lanes approaching the cloverleaf. When a queue reaches back towards traffic travelling at up to 80 km/h, an everyday delay can become a serious rear-end or lane-change risk. Traffic also grows sharply during school pickup. The next traffic study should measure school-term queues in short time blocks so that this pressure is not hidden inside an hourly average.

The crest and slope near Park Street also limit how far drivers can see. They have little time to react to slowing traffic or the back of a queue. State crash records show 58 reported crashes from 1 January 2019 to 7 September 2026 within about 75 metres of the junction. Thirty-one were recorded in an 80 km/h speed zone. Twenty-two records specifically name Brooker Highway and Park Street, including six minor-injury crashes. These figures do not prove that speed or the road design caused every crash, but they are more than enough to justify an immediate safety review of the speed limit, sight distance, queue space and road layout.

The 2019 study counted 140 crashes at the Domain interchange in five years. A new map search found 280 since 1 January 2019 within about 150 metres, including one fatal and one serious crash. The search covers all approaches and crash locations are not exact, but the number and pattern support a full redesign.

Rapid buses make the redesign more urgent

The Greater Hobart Rapid Bus Network proposes three routes: north to Claremont, south towards Kingston and Blackmans Bay, and east towards Rosny and Glebe Hill. The southern and eastern routes do not use Park Street. The northern route does, and it is the first route being planned in detail.

The route maps released for consultation on 8 September 2026 show rapid buses leaving the former rail corridor at New Town and travelling along Park Street and Letitia Street towards the city. The maps show bus-priority measures, changes to the median and a realignment near Park Street and Oldham Avenue. Services are proposed every 10 minutes at peak times. The route and station details are still being tested, with consultation open until 9 October 2026.

Because rapid buses will pass through the Park Street area, the case for a pedestrian bridge is now even stronger. The design should test a rapid-bus stop linked directly to the bridge. This would give passengers a safe, accessible way to reach the Queens Domain, its parks and sporting facilities, and the City of Hobart's Clearys Gates depot. It would make the stop a genuinely useful destination, rather than simply a point on the route.

This makes a joined-up design essential. Park Street may need to carry frequent rapid buses as well as local traffic, school traffic, people reaching the highway and people walking or riding to a station or the Domain. The rapid bus team and the highway interchange team should use the same traffic model and land plan. The assessment of 287 and 291 Park Street should test whether either property could provide room for a safer junction, bus priority, a bridge landing, construction access or a landscaped buffer.

A bridge to reconnect the community

The Brooker Highway cuts New Town and North Hobart off from more than 230 hectares of public land at the Queens Domain. The Domain includes the Botanical Gardens, aquatic centre, sports grounds, Legacy Park, walking trails and open space. Many nearby residents must make a long detour or cross near fast traffic to reach these places.

Council policy already supports a better connection. The Queens Domain Master Plan identifies access as a long-running problem. The North Hobart Neighbourhood Plan calls for easier access to the Domain and for funding to be investigated for a universally accessible bridge from New Town and North Hobart. Earlier proposals placed a connection near Clearys Gates and the Park Street and Letitia Street area.

The bridge should be a required part of the project from the start. It must be wide, well lit and easy to use for people walking, riding, pushing prams or using wheelchairs and mobility aids. Its ramps, landing points and connection to a possible rapid-bus stop should be designed at the same time as the roads. A direct connection to parks, sporting facilities and the Clearys Gates depot would help more people reach the Domain without driving.

A short window to assess nearby land

As at 16 September 2026, 287 Park Street is advertised at offers over $650,000 and 291 Park Street at offers over $760,000. Number 289 sits between them, so they do not form one continuous site. The advertised prices are not formal valuations. Even so, the sales create a short window to find out whether either property could help improve sight lines, road design, space for queues, the rapid bus route, a bridge landing or construction access.

I am not asking the Government to assume that compulsory acquisition is needed. I am asking for a quick check of engineering needs, property boundaries, planning and heritage issues, value and tenancy arrangements. If either parcel would provide clear public value, the State could consider a voluntary purchase or option before the property changes hands. Waiting may leave the Government paying more later or designing around a problem that could have been avoided.

I recognise that the steep land, nearby homes and the Queens Domain make this a difficult project. That is why the Government should keep its options open now. One coordinated redesign can make travel safer and more reliable, support rapid buses and give nearby communities a proper connection to one of Hobart's most important public places.

I would welcome a written response to the requests above and the opportunity to meet on site at the Park Street junction and cloverleaf.

Yours sincerely,

Cr Ryan Posselt

Chair, City Transport Committee

Transport spokesperson, City of Hobart

Councillor and paramedic