Traffic study to find short-term relief for congested commuters in the capital

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The peak-hour commute from the Molonglo Valley has long frustrated locals. And while promises of more roads into the area are still years away, residents are hoping a new traffic study could result in some short-term relief.

Transcript

00:00The morning commute from the Molongolo Valley and Western Creek is often a slow crawl and

00:08locals are switching up their routines to avoid the congestion.

00:11If I leave around like before 7am it's not too bad but I feel like when it comes like

00:168 to 8.30am it gets a bit more chaotic.

00:19If you're going towards a civic city it's a bit heavy but I go towards Tagarnon therefore

00:25I take back roads which is making it a bit easier for me.

00:30Wednesdays are the worst, Tuesdays are quite bad but Thursday, Friday pretty good.

00:35And as the valley's population continues to boom the traffic jams are only expected to

00:40get worse, prompting the ACT government to contract consultant WSP to conduct a traffic

00:46study aimed at finding options to alleviate pinch points on Cotter Road.

00:51We are glad to see the government is actually looking at it for the longest time there was

00:54kind of this assumption that oh it will all be fine in the long run, we just need to

00:58grin and bear with it but obviously that's no longer tenable.

01:01The area's traffic woes were compounded earlier this year when Coppins Crossing was closed for

01:06three weeks to allow for construction work on the Molongolo River Bridge.

01:10And while the new bridge promises to ease some pressure that's not due for completion until

01:15the end of 2026.

01:17Planning is also underway on the Molongolo Parkway Drive connector, an arterial road that will provide

01:23a new way in and out of the area.

01:25But we know that's not likely to be delivered until sometime in the 2030s.

01:29What we need is some short and medium term solutions.

01:32Data on traffic flow numbers and queuing times through intersections will be gathered as

01:36part of the traffic study.

01:38And short term solutions may include changes to traffic light sequencing and intersection

01:43design to keep the region's population rolling.

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