ACT Transport Minister Meegan Fitzharris says the government will not vary its contract with Canberra Metro to build a light rail stop at Mitchell earlier, despite pressure from the Opposition.
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Tuesday's territory budget included $150,000 to design a light rail stop at Sandford Street, Mitchell in 2019-20, after months of lobbying from the Mitchell Traders' Association.
But the light rail will start running in December, meaning the funding for the stop will not kick in until the network has been operating for six months.
The $150,000 is just for the design of the stop, not the construction.
In the ACT's parliament this week, Liberal MLAs Candice Burch and James Milligan asked Ms Fitzharris why it cost that much.
"The simple answer is that is what it will cost," Ms Fitzharris said.
"The government will build a traffic stop in Mitchell, it is as I’ve said previously the only stop along the route that has future-proofed utilities underground. The government has funded it, the government looks forward to doing that work over the next 12 months and to further engage with the Mitchell Traders Association."
Asked why the stop would be installed so long after the light rail began running, and whether the government would consider varying the contract to make it happen earlier, Ms Fitzharris said there was a lot of work that had to happen first.
"Constructing an extra stop at Mitchell is about a number of factors. One of them is about the construction of the stop. The other is about the operational impact of adding another stop and the timing of the route and the re-sequencing of traffic lights along the full route," Ms Fitzharris said.
"The government has not considered opening up the contract at this point because the construction of that stop would involve significant negotiation not only about the construction of the stop itself but the complete operations of the entire route."
Stage one of the network has now hit peak construction, with testing of the trams on the tracks to begin soon.
The overhead were due to be energised on Thursday night, however the testing was thwarted by a technical issue with the substation.
"Testing and commissioning will experience issues from time to time. It is part of a usual process," a spokeswoman said.
However the construction has meant widespread disruptions across Canberra's north.
The government this week agreed to audit the impact of construction on Gungahlin businesses, after traders said the disruption had caused significant financial losses.
Meanwhile Chief Minister Andrew Barr has said the light rail is unlikely to have external advertising wraps, although he would not rule it out completely.
"Light rail at this stage will not have external advertising is my understanding. There may be themed wraps of light rail vehicles in the future that might promote particular events for example, it's not certain that it will happen but it might, I wouldn't rule that out completely but I think you're unlikely to see a light rail vehicle that is sponsored by a multinational company or a supermarket or a local radio station or whatever," Mr Barr told ABC Radio on Friday morning.
However Mr Barr said there would be internal advertising, like on the city's bus fleet, however it would not be "overwhelming".
"I think there's a balance to be struck there. The reason that advertising is taken is that it does raise revenue and offsets costs, it means that fares can be lower for users, that's the balance and the trade-off," he said.
