A bold plan to dig up a major Perth street and demolish about 100 properties to build an uninterrupted highway has been scrapped, just weeks after being announced.
Last month, Main Roads WA began public consultation over its plan to upgrade a 3.3 kilometre section of Charles Street in North Perth.
The agency said it was a long-term vision to address an expected significant growth in traffic volumes for one of the city's major arterial routes.
But today, Main Roads announced it would 'shut down' the Charles Street planning study in response to negative community feedback.
"Less than half of the respondents supported the proposal with a key area of concern being the number of private properties likely to be impacted by the proposed concept," a Main Roads spokesman said in a statement.
"In response, Main Roads would conclude consultation on the proposed concept and will not be seeking to make any changes to the existing Planning Control Area."
Up to 100 homes and businesses would have been impacted by the proposal if it went ahead in its ultimate form.
However, the agency left the door open for revisiting the idea in the future.
"The feedback received to date will be assessed and the information fed into any future community consultation over long-term potential options for alleviating traffic congestion along Charles Street," the spokesman said.
'Toxic concrete river'
The plan would have removed busy intersections along the route, with Charles Street lowered under east-west routes in a 'duck and dive' design.
Through traffic heading north and south would have gone underneath the intersections while pedestrians, public transport, and local traffic would have travelled above.
Several residents who lived in the area, and some who stood to lose their homes, told the ABC it would create a "toxic concrete river" through their neighbourhood.
The City of Vincent also roundly opposed the proposal, with councillor Jonathan Hallett describing it as "frankly shocking".
"[The proposal] should never have seen the light of day in 2022 and so too was the approach to consultation and the communication with the city," he told a council meeting last week.
Charles Street connects the busy Wanneroo Road with the freeway, the CBD and high-density entertainment areas and intersects several major roads.
'Clear community concern': Minister
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti told parliament on Tuesday afternoon the decision to scrap the study came after a meeting between her office and Main Roads.
After reviewing the feedback received so far, the consultation period was cut short by more than a month.
"It's clear that there is significant community concern about the proposal," she said.
"It is for that reason, it was agreed Main Roads would wrap up consultation now and will take the time to carefully consider options for the future of Charles Street."
City of Vincent Mayor Emma Cole said the cancellation of the study showed the importance of 'people power'.
"I think the locals are feeling very buoyed by this decision," she said.
"We're feeling heard, we feel that our local community concerns have been taken on board and that's a wonderful thing."
Ms Cole said the main issue with the plan were the potential loss of homes and businesses and the severance of connectivity across the widened road.
Where to now?
The Charles Street study considered the expansion an existing planning control area in place for 141 properties along the route.
There was no funding to acquire properties to build the road, but the study would have identified which properties were needed, in consultation with the community.
Ms Saffioti conceded the scrapped plan created too much uncertainty for those property owners, but did not rule out revisiting the issue in the future.
"Delivering a long term solution for Charles St is still required," she said.
"The information we received to date will be important to better understand the community's views and attitudes and inform any further consultation we undertake in the years ahead."
Trench highways
The 'duck and dive' design had already been used in Perth with recent upgrades to major roads around Cockburn Central.
It was also planned to be used along other major routes in Perth including West Coast Highway in Scarborough and Orrong Road in Rivervale.
Charles Street is not the first major road expansion planned to be scrapped, with Ms Saffioti instrumental in cancelling an upgrade of five kilometres of Guildford Road in Maylands.
In that plan, 300 homes and businesses were set to be impacted in some way, sparking a groundswell of community backlash.
However, Ms Saffioti abolished the plan once coming to power in the 2017 election.
