Call to upgrade Blacktown bottlenecks and end traffic chaos
IT’S the Western Sydney bottleneck blocking up Blacktown - where traffic flows at a permanent crawl and covering a short distance can take forever.
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ONE western Sydney road is such a bottleneck it takes drivers 20 minutes to travel just over 4km.
It’s also home to the second largest public hospital in the state as well as residents and businesses.
The demand for an upgrade has prompted Blacktown Council to call for Blacktown Rd to become a four-lane stretch the entire road.
It also wants State Government to accelerate an upgrade for snail-like conditions burdening drivers along Sunnyholt Rd.
The council has earmarked Blacktown Rd as a priority, with the upgraded hospital creating more traffic.
Mayor Stephen Bali said an outer ring road could ease pressure on Blacktown and Sunnyholt roads.
“The roads are like the arteries of our city. If an artery is blocked, you’re going to have a heart attack,’’ he said.
“We have more people pouring into this region – one in five people will be moving into Blacktown over the next 20 years – putting greater pressure on our roads and this needs to be addressed.
“If you don’t get it right, you’ll choke the life out of Blacktown.”
RMS data revealed Blacktown Rd had a daily average of 36,037 drivers using the main road last year.
The Blacktown Advocate tested it during morning peak traffic last week.
Driving from near the TAFE to the Great Western Highway at Prospect took 20 minutes on what should have been a eight-minute drive along 4.3km.
After passing St Martin’s Village, traffic crawled into Prospect.
A RMS spokeswoman said any improvements to Blacktown Rd would be incorporated into the $4 million Prospect Highway upgrade.
The on-again, off-again project would widen Blacktown Rd to four lanes.
At Sunnyholt Rd, Cr Bali also proposed an overpass and underpass at the intersection of Vardys Rd to ease congestion.
The RMS spokeswoman said it recently added a lane along Sunnyholt Rd at Stanhope Gardens.
“RMS recently completed a $600,000 project to build an additional right-turn lane from Sunnyholt Rd into Stanhope Parkway,’’ she said.
“This project has increased capacity at the intersection and reduced the number of vehicles blocking through traffic.”
Sunnyholt Rd saw a daily average of 36,242 motorists battling to get to and from work in its north and southbound lanes in 2015.
A 6.9km trip drive along Sunnyholt Rd from Blacktown to Glenwood at 5.45pm took 35 minutes.
There was no respite for drivers travelling in the opposite direction, with the same gridlock facing those leaving the Hills district.
The latest RMS figures reveal commuters on Sunnyholt Rd crawl along at just 30km/h in peak periods.
A recent NRMA survey found more western Sydney commuters were forced on to roads because of poor parking at train stations. It also found that commuter parking was under enormous pressure. And for a staggering 80 per cent of workers from western Sydney, it found their daily commute had become even longer in the past year.
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