By Josefine Ganko
Heavy traffic backed up for kilometres from the Sydney Harbour Bridge after a head-on collision closed several lanes of traffic during the morning commuter peak on Wednesday, injuring three people.
At 8.12am, two white hatchback vehicles collided head-on in the southbound lane 4 near the bridge’s southern pylon, and then hit two other cars.
Emergency services attend to a patient with back injuries after a head-on collision on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.Credit: Nine News
Emergency services arrived shortly after, diverting traffic and treating three people. The two vehicles not involved in the head-on collision were quickly cleared away.
Traffic backed up quickly, stretching back as far as Artarmon and Mosman for southbound commuters and Drummoyne for those travelling north.
Four lanes of traffic, lanes 4 and 5 southbound and lanes 2 and 3 northbound, were closed for nearly two hours. All lanes reopened just before 10am, with the heavy traffic eventually clearing about an hour later.
Bus commuters on Sydney’s North Shore were diverted to North Sydney train station to transfer to the rail network to avoid entering the traffic to cross the bridge. Transport for NSW reported bus delays of up to 40 minutes.
The drivers of the vehicles that collided head-on were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
One person was trapped inside their car with a back injury and had to be cut out. He was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital just before 9am.
Another person was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital, while a third was treated by paramedics at the scene but didn’t need further treatment.
A tow truck arrived about 9am to remove the two crashed vehicles from the bridge.
The lack of a barrier on the Harbour Bridge means head-on collisions are not uncommon.
In October last year, two people died when a car travelling north crossed into oncoming traffic, hitting a car before that car hit a bus. Another man and a pregnant woman were taken to hospital.
The flow of Sydney’s traffic and the limitations of the bridge’s width explain why barriers have not been installed despite the regularity of collisions.
Heavy city-bound traffic in the morning reverses in the afternoon, meaning authorities need to be able to switch the directions of the centre lanes of the bridge.
Therefore, the only barrier that could work would be a movable one.
But the width of the bridge also makes this difficult, leaving little room for any barrier without removing a lane, which would affect the flow of traffic.