The Tralee development is under construction, and there have been calls for a quicker way into the ACT. Photo: Village Building Co/Facebook.
Congestion and inconvenience are driving calls for a new, more direct road across the ACT-NSW border.
The NSW suburb of South Jerrabomberra (or Tralee) sits across from Canberra’s Hume industrial estate.
Currently, there is one access road. It means people have to head north-east along Environa Drive to the intersection with Tompsitt Drive at Jerrabomberra when they want to drive into Canberra, before using Lanyon Drive to access the Monaro Highway or going past Queanbeyan.
At its July meeting, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) received a report updating councillors on planning for a second access road.
“This project will provide a connection from Environa Drive to the Monaro Highway in the ACT and include a stub road for a future extension of Dunns Creek Road to connect to the Old Cooma Road,” the report stated.
“Current traffic modelling identified that by 2031, the intersection of Tompsitt Drive with Environa Drive suffers an unacceptable level of service if no improvement to the road network is undertaken.
“A second connection between the Tralee Urban Release Area and the ACT provides relief to the expected congested [traffic] at this intersection.”
This forecast demand has prompted repeated calls from residents for another access road into the ACT to future-proof the area’s road network against the expected population growth.
In late 2023, a petition was filed with the Legislative Assembly, calling on the ACT Government to support the project.
It argued the current route added about four kilometres to each trip into or out of the suburb, and that ambulance services had been delayed from reaching the area.
According to the council report, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between QPRC and Transport for NSW (TfNSW) was executed in April 2025.
“This MOU requires TfNSW to investigate preferred design options including connection points for the ACT, Dunns Creek Road Stage 2 and Environa Drive, undertaking specialist studies, documenting the approval process within ACT and NSW jurisdictions, project timelines and providing cost estimates and Cost Benefit Ratios,” the report stated.
The Dunns Creek Road project (DCR) will be another connection between the ACT and NSW. Image: Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council.
QPRC sees the Tralee to Hume (ACT) Connection project as stage one of Dunns Creek Road, a proposed road that would connect Googong township and Tralee to the ACT.
An earlier plan would see a connection at the Old Cooma Road and Googong Road intersection, with a connection to Tralee (and Canberra) through Sheppard Street.
However, according to the council’s website, the chosen route would have run through biodiversity conservation land and a wildlife sanctuary, forcing the consideration of alternatives.
Speaking after the meeting, State Member for Monaro Steve Whan said there had been “positive progress” on talks for the first stage of the DCR project.
“I understand Queanbeyan Council is advancing quite fast on its planning for that, and we’ll continue to talk to the state [government], to the ACT Government and to the Federal Government … but there’s still a little way [to go] before we’re able to start work on it, as I understand.”
The ACT Government also previously pushed back on the Sheppard Street connection.
In its official response to the 2023 petition, the ACT Government referred to a November 2023 roundtable held to discuss cross-border connections between NSW and the ACT.
“The Roundtable agreed that a second connection between the ACT and NSW network would be most appropriately located to the south of Hume connecting the future Dunns Creek Road in NSW, to be delivered by QPRC, through the new interchange at Isabella Drive (the Dunns Creek Road project),” it read.
“This south connection will also connect South Jerrabomberra (Tralee) into the ACT network, however, is dependent on delivery of the Dunns Creek Road project. A third connection was not identified as required.”
The response also stated that the ACT Government didn’t support opening access directly through the Hume precinct, due to safety concerns from the mixing of residential and industrial traffic.
Transport Canberra was contacted for comment, but did not reply by the deadline.
