A waiting game for Geelong drivers across more than 30 intersections

From traffic lights, rail crossings and roundabouts, Geelong residents have identified the intersections where traffic banks up the most. SEE THE MAP

                              

“Sorry I was late, you should have seen the traffic.”

It’s a sentence many people have uttered.

The Geelong Advertiser has uncovered intersections where traffic stalls for the longest.

Readers listed several intersections along Latrobe Tce including Ryrie St, McKillop St and Aberdeen St as places where traffic jams often occurred.

The Addy found it would take vehicles multiple green lights to reach intersections on Latrobe Tce when they wished to turn right.

On Friday afternoon during peak traffic it took cars up to seven minutes to turn right from McKillop St onto Latrobe Tce, waiting through three red lights after driving through the Gheringhap St intersection.

Vehicles wait up to three green lights to travel through the intersection of Latrobe Tce and Ryrie St when turning right during peak time on Monday. Picture: Brad Fleet.

About 9.30am, which is around the end of peak time, on Monday morning it took up to four minutes for vehicles to be able to turn right onto Latrobe Tce from Ryrie St after they had driven through the Fenwick St intersection.

The cars were waiting for up to three green lights to reach the intersection.

As a regular user of streets in central Geelong, Rowan Humphries said the intersection at Latrobe Tce and Ryrie St was one of the worst.

“Latrobe Tce and Ryrie St lights has many cars and trucks banked up in the right turn lane,” he said.

“Some people are very slow when the light changes and it only allows a few vehicles through.”

The 35-year-old truck driver said when he was travelling to work he would use Mercer St and Brougham St but in afternoons, depending on traffic and where he was going, he would use Fenwick St or Latrobe Tce.

“When I am in my work truck I can’t avoid it because trucks aren’t allowed to use the side streets unless they’re delivering to those streets,” he said.

“So if I’m going to Newtown or Corio for example I have no choice but to use that intersection.

“In my car I try to avoid it, but again, it depends on the traffic elsewhere.”

Mr Humphries said cars and trucks needed to be given more time to turn onto Latrobe Tce.

“Early mornings or late in the evenings it works well, it’s during the day or at peak times when the green arrow needs to stay on longer or for the green arrow to go blank in between each round of lights so traffic can move,” he said.

Where Barwon Heads Rd reduces from two lanes to one lane towards Armstrong Creek at Reserve Rd was also a road where readers reported traffic banking up.

Multiple intersections on Torquay Rd and the Surf Coast Highway were also noted as places it could be difficult to turn including Pioneer Rd, Heyers Rd and Settlement Rd.

There are 249 traffic lights in the Greater Geelong local government area and they all use demand-based technology.

No traffic lights in Geelong operate on the fixed time method.

A Department of Transport and Planning spokesman said traffic lights used demand-based technology to help prioritise timing at each intersection.

“This technology improves traffic flow and road safety at our busy intersections,” he said.

The content summaries were created with the assistance of AI technology, then edited and approved for publication by an editor.

Originally published as A waiting game for Geelong drivers across more than 30 intersections