Commuters caught up in traffic chaos as trams shut down for three weeks
CBD commuters will be given a reprieve after Monday’s traffic chaos on King William St – with changed lengths of traffic light cycles.
Frustrated motorists will be given longer green lights on King William St and “more appropriate” traffic light cycles after yesterday’s peak hour nightmare.
Drivers faced the first day of headaches as tram services halt for three weeks. Traffic on King William St is restricted to one lane in each direction between Victoria Square and South Tce while a $17.5 million tram line upgrade is completed.
The Traffic Management Centre will monitor the changed lengths of traffic light cycles over the duration of the works, a Transport Department spokesman said. “The project has a total of 10 people currently on site helping to manage traffic and pedestrian access,” he said.
Traffic was jammed between South Tce and Victoria Square yesterday, and one veteran commuter said the congestion was “the worst I’ve seen in 20 years”.
One driver complained of lack of notice, saying he wasn’t aware of the works and therefore didn’t leave enough time to get to work on time.
“Why is this happening now … I think we’ll have to find another way in,” he said.
Making matters worse, just south of the CBD, in Unley, motorists are also facing heavy King William Rd restrictions for a $15.5 million upgrade. It has been left a ghost town as major works yesterday shut off all vehicle access to the majority of the stretch.
Food Works employee Taimoor Hemze has noticed how quiet the road has been all month, and he is getting less than half of his normal rostered shifts as a result.
“We usually have two workers at the same time but now there’s only one at a time,” he said.
“I used to get four or five shifts a week and now I’m only getting one or two.”
Residents say noise from the works has added to the disruption, because the road works begin at 4am.
“The noise was terrible … it’s been like this for the past four weeks, it’s shocking,” resident Joe Lofaro said.
Another local, Sasha Mitrovic, said many traders wouldn’t survive long enough to reap the benefits of the upgraded road. “It’s just the truth, and it’s what’s going to happen,” she said.
The two projects were timed to coincide to minimise disruption.