Christmas shopping traffic sees car speeds drop to 3kmh

Motorists travelling on Melbourne’s busiest roads can expect to be reduced to walking pace during this week’s Christmas crunch. This is the best time to hit the roads and avoid heavy traffic.

Motorists travelling along arterial roads will likely be reduced to walking pace during this week’s Christmas crunch, with new data for the first time detailing the scale of the summer traffic slowdown on Melbourne’s shopping precincts.

Shoppers should hit the road in the morning and early evening because GPS figures from Intelematics show that average speeds plummet during the middle of the day.

Shopping strips along Sydney Rd, Bridge Rd and Chapel St are tipped to be slower and more congested than the busy streets surrounding Chadstone and High point shopping centres.

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Banked-up traffic draws to a standstill on Sydney Rd.

Figures collected from last year’s Christmas period show that by noon many cars travelling along these streets moved as slow as 3kmh.

Sydney Rd was among the most congested hot spots in the state, where average off-peak speeds dropped from 35kmh during most of the year to 12kmh during the so-called silly season.

By noon, many cars on the Brunswick road were recorded travelling as slow as 3km/h.

“Our data has shown that mornings and early evenings are the best times for shoppers to hit the streets,” Intelematics general manager of products and services Denise Christie said.

“This bucks the normal trend whereby Melburnians usually experience the most congestion during morning and evening peak on Kings Way and the Tullamarine and Monash freeways.

“Traffic always ramps up during the Christmas period, so it is important that drivers remain safe and embrace the Christmas spirit.”

Roads around Chadstone also experience a surge in traffic numbers and journey times during December. Picture: Kylie Else

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Intelematics used an advanced information service known as SUNA Traffic Channel.

It found that during the Christmas rush, the peak period of congestion around shopping precincts was between noon and 6pm.

Roads around Chadstone and Highpoint experienced a surge in traffic numbers and journey times during December but did not rank within the top five spots for summer slowdowns.

Drivers have also been warned about maintenance work to be conducted this summer as 224km of roads are upgraded.

Work will be conducted on sections of the Princes Hwy, Nepean Hwy and Hume Fwy as well as the Healesville-Koo Wee Rup Rd, Centre Dandenong Rd and the South Gippsland Hwy.

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