By Angus Thomson and Matt O'Sullivan
Transport officials have been forced into making further adjustments to ease traffic congestion in Sydney’s inner west after the NSW roads minister conceded tweaks made to the troubled Rozelle interchange had transferred the gridlock further up Victoria Road.
City-bound motorists were reduced to a crawl along Victoria Road in Drummoyne and Gladesville on Thursday morning due to traffic light phasing and higher back-to-school traffic, sparking claims that Transport for NSW is shifting the problem caused by the new $3.9 billion interchange from one local road to another.
City-bound motorists were backed up on Victoria Road after the Gladesville Bridge just after 9am on Thursday.Credit: Rhett Wyman
“It’s a complete disaster, it’s worse than before Christmas,” one commuter, Matt, told 2GB’s Ben Fordham, saying it had taken him an hour and a half to travel 15 kilometres on Wednesday, and the problem had only got worse.
“It’s not sustainable … there’s a fundamental problem with the design of this thing.”
With the worst of the delays between Gladesville and Drummoyne, many callers were angry about changes to the traffic light timing from Lyons Road onto Victoria Road. One caller, Zac, said the changes were causing problems for commuters.
“For many, it makes the morning commute worse,” he said.
Commuter John Verhelst told the Herald it took him half an hour to travel between the Gladesville and Iron Cove bridges.
Roads Minister John Graham, who was at the traffic management centre earlier this week as officials prepared for the surge in traffic, said the Rozelle interchange was working, but the changes made to ease congestion over the break were having an “unacceptable impact further up the road”.
“The problem has been transferred further up the road, and we’ll now have to really focus in on that issue to make this a better commute for people,” he said. “It’s a delicate balance and the transport management team are really working closely, looking at exactly how these lights change.”
Inner West Council Mayor Darcy Byrne said the shifting of the bottleneck several kilometres back along Victoria Road to Gladesville and Drummoyne indicated there was a permanent problem with congestion along the corridor due to the interchange.
Byrne said the latest shift in congestion seemed to be due to traffic signalling changes at the Lyons Road intersection. “It leaves me very worried because traffic signalling could be adjusted again, and the congestion could return to Rozelle,” he said.
“It is worrying that the problem has moved a couple of kilometres up the road because that indicates we have a permanent problem with congestion along the corridor.”
While Victoria Road was bumper-to-bumper through Gladesville and Drummoyne, traffic flowed more smoothly along the arterial route in Balmain and Rozelle closer to the interchange.
Byrne has suggested installing a sign directing city-bound commuters towards the free Iron Cove Link tunnel, releasing daily traffic data “to see if the situation is improving”, and moving the bus lane on Victoria Road to the outside lane, as strategies for reducing the congestion.
Motorists reported spending an hour travelling from Gladesville to Drummoyne. Buses were delayed by five to 10 minutes, with commuters telling Fordham the bus lane was congested with cars trying to jump the queue.
Greens MP for Balmain Kobi Shetty said Transport for NSW was shifting the congestion from one local road to another, rather than tackling the design flaw that prioritises the tolled traffic above anyone travelling on a free road.
“It’s time for the Minister for Roads to step in and look closely at overhauling the design to open up those bottlenecks coming onto the Anzac Bridge,” she said.
Transport for NSW attributed CBD-bound queuing of vehicles along Victoria Road at Drummoyne to increased traffic flows and traffic light phasing.
“Transport operators will review and adjust the management of the road network as more people return to work and school next week,” the agency said.
More cars were observed using bus lanes on Victoria Road during the morning peak, which prompted transport officials to remind motorists that police are monitoring compliance.
This week marks the first real test of the troubled interchange this year, as most return to school and the office.
Transport officials decided against installing traffic signals in the interchange tunnels, where vehicles from the Iron Cove Link and the M4 motorway merge, as a way of controlling the rate of vehicles travelling through the new spaghetti junction.
Nor will traffic signals be installed further west along the M4 – also part of WestConnex.
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