David Smith grills National Capital Authority on Commonwealth Avenue bridge

Federal Parliament's standing committee on public works heard the group's plans to widen and strengthen the two bridges to help the 60-year-old structure cope with heavier vehicles and increased traffic.

The committee got off to a painful start, as chair Graham Perrett - flanked by Liberal National Party MPs Karen Andrews and Keith Pitt - struggled to hear the room while dialling in remotely.

But once up and running, Bean MP David Smith scolded NCA representatives when he learned that they hadn't formally briefed local federal and territory politicians on the development.

"I'm disappointed that there hasn't been efforts to engage with the actual representatives for this area where the bridge is in the middle," Mr Smith said.

"I'd encourage the NCA to reach out to the representatives from the Kurrajong electorate for the Assembly, and to the senators and obviously the federal member for Canberra in terms of actual specific briefings on this project."

Chief executive Sally Barnes and her team defended their efforts, saying they had appeared before politicians at committee hearings, met with their counterparts in ACT government directorates, and attended monthly meetings with territory light rail officials.

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Grilled on their stakeholder engagement, representatives later stressed that they had been speaking with local groups like Pedal Power and Public Transport Canberra, and hosting pop-up conversations with pedestrians around the lake to gauge community opinion.

"I would also add that in the terms of engagement, there is still a lot to go," NCA director Greg Tallentire added.

"There is still many processes to go through in these milestones, particularly around works approvals... where we will have full engagement and feedback from the communities and stakeholders."

The authority plans to widen the bridges by 2.5 metres on each side, replace existing handrails and traffic barriers that meet current standards, install new lighting on shared paths, and provide better access for pram and wheelchair users.

The internal gap between both lanes of traffic may be plugged by the ACT government to create a new bridge to connect the light rail to Woden.

But representatives said they weren't waiting on the light rail, with Ms Barnes saying that they had been advised to start work soon or risk "failure of the existing Commonwealth Avenue bridges".

The project, if approved, should start construction in the middle of 2024, with hopes it will be completed by the end of 2025.

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