Inner West residents fear return of Rozelle Interchange traffic chaos when school returns

Inner West Council is so dismayed with plans to ease traffic chaos on the Rozelle Interchange in the coming weeks, it has set up its own committee of residents to help solve the issue.

Fears of traffic gridlock at the stricken Rozelle Interchange when school returns next week have put residents at loggerheads with transport authorities, forcing local engineers to band together to try and prevent a return to traffic chaos.

Local residents have expressed fears the long traffic jams seen in November, which had some commuters stuck in traffic for 90 minutes, will return as holidays come to a close.

Frustrated by the state government’s current traffic mitigation plans, a group of Inner West locals with public transport and traffic engineering experience have formed this week to consult with Transport for NSW on better strategies to prevent a return of gridlocks on the spaghetti junction. Transport authorities have agreed to regularly meet with the panel.

Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne said there was no confidence the interchange would operate well when normal traffic resumes after being briefed by TfNSW coordinator general Howard Collins last Thursday.

The Inner West council have asked the NSW government for plans on how it intends to prevent traffic gridlock on the Rozelle Interchange when school returns in two weeks time. Picture: Rohan Kelly

While Mr Byrne acknowledged additional lane space added to the City West Link and added signage had helped alleviate conditions he said the merging of 10 lanes into four along Victoria Road still posed major problems.

“I am not confident the current plans will be enough that local residents will be able to get out of their suburb and get to work,” he said.

Many residents in Balmain and Rozelle have expressed fears they will once again be locked in their suburbs when back to school traffic returns with some already making plans to leave for work an hour earlier.

Inner West mayor Darcy Byrne.

Commuter traffic at Rozelle, heading in to the new tunnel on November 30. The section is supposed to elevate traffic on Victoria Rd. Picture: Richard Dobson

Rozelle resident LJ Loch said while those in her community appreciate some of the steps the government has taken to address the problem, such as additional signage going into the Iron Cove tunnel, there are still systemic issues with the roads that need to be addressed.

“Both sides of Victoria Rd have a nightmare to contend with and we’re all incredibly nervous about how it’s going to be managed going forward,” she said.

“The merger coming onto Anzac Bridge where the traffic coming off Victoria Rd merges with the traffic coming out of the tunnel is a really nasty turn with very problematic visibility. “It’s only a matter of time before there is an accident there.”

Ms Loch is one of many residents calling on the government to consult with the community about further improvements to the roads.

Pictured on November 30, the commuter traffic coming off the Iron Cove Bridge on Victoria Road at Rozelle, heading in to the city. Picture: Richard Dobson

“It’s been very clear that the problems we have today have been created by governments not listening to the community about how we use the roads around us,” she said.

“It would be great to have more conversations before the problem hits us all again and tempers flare.”

Balmain residents Stephanie and Jakob Cakarnis are also dreading the return traffic when school holidays end.

Ms Cakarnis who is expecting her second baby said she has already been preparing to leave the house 30-45 minutes earlier in February.

“I tell myself I just need to remain calm and pray my water doesn’t break on the Rozelle Interchange, as it would end up taking me about 90 minutes to get to the hospital,” she said.

Mr Cakarnis, who takes the ferry into the CBD for work said he had noticed the ferry services had become a lot more popular since the interchange opened.

Despite local concern, Transport for NSW have indicated they believe changes made to the spaghetti junction in December will be enough to manage the expected increase in traffic next month.

Balmain residents, Stephanie and Jacob Cakarnis, with their 18-month-old son Frederick are worried traffic will worsen on the Rozelle Interchange in February. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Last year, extra signage was added along Victoria Rd and a section of extra lane space added to the City West Link. While there were discussions about also adding extra lane space along a section of Victoria Rd, TfNSW is unlikely to go ahead with the addition.

“Motorist and bus journey times steadily improved throughout December,” a TfNSW spokesman said.

“By mid-December, bus services were running close to scheduled times. This was due to more vehicles using the free Iron Cove Link Tunnel and improved bus lane compliance.

“We do expect some heavier traffic as people return to school and work in late January, so we’re asking people to plan ahead.”

Traffic expert Mathew Hounsell warns there’s a strong likelihood of traffic conditions deteriorating when school holidays end, arguing while the government has made some changes they have been unable to fix some fundamental problems with the interchange.

“People in Balmain and Rozelle are going to have problems basically indefinitely because the government didn’t prioritise any of the buses out of that area and haven’t done anything to improve ferries to give them options,” he said.

“They haven’t fixed the issue of too many lanes heading into the bottleneck that is the Anzac Bridge or that traffic through Balmain still has to wait to get back onto the City West Link.

“Basically people in Balmain and Rozelle will get to the point where they need to consider alternative means of transport – not driving to the CBD, maybe taking public transport. People’s behaviours will have to change.”

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