A workforce of 231 people previously employed by the Roe 8 Alliance to work on the now-cancelled Roe 8 project will be reassigned to three alternative projects.
Funding will come from the new $2.3 billion agreement that includes full reallocation of Perth Freight Link federal funding.
Planning Minister Rita Saffioti said the alternative projects below would relieve congestion surrounding Perth and create hundreds of other indirect jobs:
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- Fiona Stanley Hospital and Murdoch Activity Centre access from Kwinana Freeway and Roe Highway ($100 million) - construction to begin shortly.
- Wanneroo Road (Joondalup Drive to Flynn Drive) - Dual Carriageway ($31 million) construction to start during the 2017-18 financial year.
- Armadale Road dual carriageway upgrade between Anstey Road and Tapper Road ($145 million) to start construction during 2017-18 FY.
Ms Saffioti said total state Roe 8 costs would be $85 million, or $46.9 million written-off costs after allowing for retained assets such as land.
Contractors would be paid $40 million for work completed and less than $10 million in lieu of lost overheads.
She said written-off costs would have totalled $22.9 million had the Liberals taken the conservative option and only cleared to Bibra Drive pre-election.
"The WA public gave the McGowan Government a mandate to scrap the Roe 8 project and we have acted quickly to reassign the workforce," she said.
The Alliance will also manage rehabilitation of the cleared Coolbellup site informed by a working group with community and state and local government representatives.
A group of Murdoch University ecologists has joined other experts in a scientific advisory group to guide restoration of vegetation and wildlife, and address Indigenous archaeological concerns.
"Considering Murdoch's proximity to the wetlands, we are elated to be working so closely with our neighbouring community to restore the area," ecologist Joe Fontaine said.
Priorities identified including removing 3m-high mulch piles suffocating plants beneath, and removing a limestone track before winter rains.
Alkaline leaching from the limestone could kill surrounding banksia woodlands, recently declared endangered.
"If they are not removed in the next few weeks, we will be left with huge patches that will take longer to recover and add vastly to the restoration costs," Dr Fontaine said.
"Nature can do much of the recovery work but for this to happen we need to act now to take advantage of seeds stored in the seedbank that will germinate with the onset of the winter rains.
"We don't want to look back at this time in five to 10 years and regret not removing the mulch and the limestone track in a timely fashion.
"In the long run, taking this action now could save tens of thousands of dollars in seed and revegetation costs."
Restoration plans are under discussion, with one option being ecological restoration incorporating east-west walking and cycling tracks to connect Bibra Lake with the coast.
Meanwhile, Roe 8 supporters plan to rally on the new Labor government's first sitting day.
The Build Roe 8 group, consisting largely of truck drivers who say they want the road built for safety, will deliver a petition with just over 8000 signatures to Opposition leader Mike Nahan to table in Parliament.
