Hoddle St and Punt Rd face two-year traffic jam under government plan

HODDLE St and Punt Rd will be turned into a construction site for two years as the State Government pushes ahead with a radical plan to cut ­congestion.

The corner of Punt Rd and Swan St, Richmond. Picture: Ellen Smith

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HODDLE St and Punt Rd will be turned into a construction site for two years as the State Government pushes ahead with a radical plan to cut ­congestion.

Work on the $60 million project to install complicated continuous flow intersections along the bottlenecks will start in the middle of next year and is not expected to be finished until mid-2019.

Drivers who already have to negotiate hook turns will have to add a new word to the driving dictionary. Some intersections will have P-turns, which is what the spaghetti-like manoeuvre has been called.

The new P-Turn is set to be introduced.

Construction companies wanting to build the project will have to meet strict standards to limit disruption to the 90,000 cars which use the north-south corridor every day.

Major changes are planned at the intersections of Swan St, Johnston St, Brunton Ave and the Eastern Freeway. Tenderers will have to decide whether to do the work simultaneously or individually.

Once completed, motorists heading to the city on Swan St will be banned from turning right into Punt Rd, while those driving toward the MCG on Hoddle St will not be able to turn right into Johnston St.

Instead, drivers will complete P-turns as the continuous flow intersections send them through choke-points before they loop back around and turn left to their destinations.

Roads Minister Luke Donnellan has high hopes for the government’s new plan.

Roads Minister Luke Donnellan will release preliminary project designs on Sunday.

“Hoddle St is a vital link in our network and a key connection to the CBD,” Mr Donnellan said.

“We’re making it easier for people heading to the CBD or our world-class events precinct.”

The project also includes a third lane on the Eastern ­Freeway on-ramp for motorists heading outbound from Hoddle St.

The government hopes the continuous-flow intersections, which have been successfully built in Salt Lake City in the US, will be a cut-price congestion-buster.

The number of lanes to turn right from Brunton Ave into Punt Rd will be cut from three to two, in a bid to make the intersection safer for pedestrians.

New bike lanes will be installed on Swan St and Olympic Boulevard and hook turns will also be introduced for ­outbound motorists turning right into Punt Rd at Swan St.

The government has been shaping the plans for several months and consultation will continue now the preliminary designs have been made public.

“The community has played an important role in the development of these designs to ensure Victorians spend less time stuck in traffic,” Mr Donnellan said.

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