East Street to old bridge new traffic lights cause delays and chaos with commuters

New traffic lights installed at a key Rockhampton CBD intersection have caused long delays with commuters. Find out what TMR has to say about the issue.

New traffic lights installed on the turning lane of East Street onto the old bridge have caused chaos with northside to southside (and vice versa) commuters after a glitch in the signalisation.

Some commuters have reported their morning trip time has gone from 10 minutes up to as long as 50 minutes.

Traffic has been backed up on Lakes Creek Road, the Fitzroy Bridge, Fitzroy Street and East Street.

The state-controlled road falls under the jurisdiction of Department of Transport of Main Roads.

The new lights, in the northbound slip lane from East Street onto the Fitzroy River Bridge, became operational on November 7

TMR advised between November 8-11, feedback was received from road users about the signal operation.

“We investigated and found an error in the co-ordination,” a TMR spokesperson said.

“This was corrected before the morning peak on November 12, and visual observation during morning and afternoon peaks has confirmed significant improvement since initial commissioning.

“We will continue to monitor peak-hour traffic queues and make any adjustments to the signal co-ordination if required.”

The intersection was short-listed for safety improvement due to the high number of crashes recorded during the past five years.

A road network operational meeting was held on November 17 with Rockhampton Regional Council and Queensland Police, with positive feedback received on the outcome.

The project was funded under the Targeted Road Safety Program to minimise the risk of rear-end crashes.