Brisbane traffic: Legacy Way tunnel closed to fix power supply issue
Traffic chaos unfolded across Brisbane this afternoon triggered by the closure of the Legacy Way Tunnel from a power supply issue while mass congestion was felt on other major routes.
QLD News
Don't miss out on the headlines from QLD News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Legacy Way Tunnel has reopened following an hours long shutdown however, major traffic delays are being felt across the city at peak hour.
The tunnel was suddenly closed about 1.30am due to a power supply issue.
It was reopened after 5pm, Linkt reported.
An alert was issued by Department of Transport and Main Roads, with commuters encouraged to use alternative routes, causing further delays on surrounding roads.
Congestion had banked up across the city including on Coronation Drive, Milton Road and the Inner City Bypass.
Motorists travelling along Coronation Drive were hit with 30-minute delays southbound and 20-minute delays heading northbound.
There were delays of about 20 minutes on the ICB.
Four Queensland Fire and Rescue Crews attended the tunnel at 1.30am to put out a fire in a substation.
The tunnel was already closed by then and was understood to have been shut about 1am.
The fire was out by 2am but crews remained on scene until 3.30am to conduct atmospheric testing to ensure the levels were safe.
An estimated 25,000 motorists used the tunnel daily, the majority during peak hour, with drivers paying an average of $6.83 per trip.
It means Transurban is losing roughly $7114 every hour the tunnel is closed.
Earlier, heavy traffic built up on Milton Rd in Auchenflower and on the Inner City Bypass in Herston, while city-bound traffic on the Western Freeway through Chapel Hill and Indooroopilly was also heavily impacted.
Congestion began to ease just before 10am.
Inner City Bypass traffic was backed up from the Abbotsford Rd on-ramp in Bowen Hills all the way through to the Riverside Expressway, with knock-on effects pushing vehicles back to the intersection with Sandgate Rd in Albion.
Northside commuters reported “apocalyptic” conditions, with the journey time from some suburbs blowing out from 20 minutes to 90 minutes.
A frustrated commuter said a normally 10-minute drive along Abbotsford Rd took her 35 minutes, despite her map showing her trip would only take 18 minutes.
Another commuter said the traffic was “insane” and that they had never seen anything like it.
On both Kelvin Grove Road and Coronation Drive, commuters reported speeds of just 8km/h.
Western Freeway traffic faced 10km of queues from the tunnel entrance near Mt Coot-Tha to Sumners Rd in Sumner at the peak of the delays.
Commuters using Moggill Rd to travel from Kenmore in the western suburbs faced a journey time of close to an hour.
City-bound vehicles were stuck in heavy traffic along almost the entire length of Milton Rd, as motorists were forced to find other routes.
A Transurban spokeswoman said power supply to Legacy Way tunnel was impacted after an incident occurred in one of the tunnel substations early this morning.
“We are working to restore the power as soon as possible and reopen the tunnel to traffic. Legacy Way remains closed in both directions and customers are advised to seek an alternate route,” she said.
Originally published as Brisbane traffic: Legacy Way tunnel closed to fix power supply issue
’Crushing blow’: Entire harvest taken in dead-of-night oyster heist
An entire harvest of oysters, valued at $12,000, has been stolen from a southeast Queensland oyster farmer in what was described as a “well-coordinated heist” amid fears for restaurant supplies.
‘Serious public health matter’: Controversial homeless camp to be wiped out
Residents camping surrounded by human waste and drug paraphernalia at a Moreton Bay beauty spot have been given seven days to vacate before it is shut down by Council over public health fears.