Melbourne’s weekend peak hour that’s causing headaches for drivers

Melburnians aren’t safe from traffic snarls on the weekend, as new data shows some streets now rival weekday figures. Here’s when to stay off the road to skip the congestion.

Surging traffic numbers are creating bumper-to-bumper journeys for weekend motorists, as thousands of extra cars clog Melbourne’s busy arterials.

VicRoads data shows the notorious post-brunch traffic jam on weekends has been driven by a sharp jump in car numbers across the entire network.

On average, there were 83 more cars per lane of traffic on a typical Saturday in 2018 than there were in 2015.

On Sundays there were an extra 50 cars per lane, equating to thousands more cars across the network each day of the weekend.

Melbourne’s weekend peak hour is at its worst from 12pm to 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

RACV’s senior manager of transport, planning and infrastructure, Peter Kartsidimas said our suburbs were feeling the brunt of large car numbers.

“Unlike the weekday commute this traffic is more unpredictable and therefore harder to manage,” he said.

“Busy lifestyles don’t take a break because it is the weekend, there are many tasks for Melburnians to perform such as shopping and children’s sporting activities.

“Motorists should consider other alternative forms of transport where possible. Rather than using their car they could take public transport, ride bikes or even walk short distances.”

 

Melbourne’s growing weekend congestion is helping contribute millions of dollars in tolls as people try to get to their destination sooner.

Tolling giant Transurban announced a record annual profit of $813 million in August, with the annual report showing motorists on CityLink grew by 4.6 per cent on weekends, compared to weekday traffic growth of 2.6 per cent.

The Sunday Herald Sun can also reveal traffic is getting worse throughout the week on our major roads.

Vehicles on the West Gate Freeway jumped from 186,000 in 2014 to 190,000, currently.

Similar increases were experienced on the Monash Freeway.

The Western Ring Rd has an extra 23,000 vehicles a day and the Metropolitan Ring Rd had 25,000.

While the Mornington Peninsula Freeway had 12,000 added vehicles in just three years.

These traffic statistics are expected to continue to grow, with Melbourne’s population to rise by 1 million more people in the next decade, adding 3.2 million daily road trips.

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A Department of Transport spokesman said Victoria was responding to congestion and growth with a range of new major projects.

“There’s an unprecedented amount of work happening on our road network, but we’re also investing in smart technology-based solutions, such as Managed Motorways, so we can get vehicles moving more efficiently on our existing road network,” he said.

“We’re constantly monitoring our road network and targeting the most important improvements to congestion hot spots so we can deliver relief where it’s needed most.

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