Commuters are bracing for 18 months of gridlock in the inner west as works get under way to fix a notorious freeway bottleneck.
Hobsons Bay and Maribyrnong drivers are experiencing significant delays on key routes due to traffic being directed to Geelong and Williamstown roads to avoid West Gate Freeway and CityLink works.
These began last Wednesday, with drivers from the west warned that morning peak trips could take up to 15 minutes longer.
Yet travel times by Thursday included 70 minutes from the Ring Road to Montague Street, 58 minutes from Williamstown Road to Footscray Road, and 36 minutes from Geelong Road to Footscray Road.
Drivers are being told to use Footscray Road as an alternative city route, funnelling heavy traffic onto Buckley Street, which has only one lane in each direction.
Buckley Street resident Craig Williams said the road was ill-equipped to handle the extra pressure.
“I don’t think it’s a viable alternative. It’s disappointing we didn’t know a little more in advance that they were planning this.”
Buckley Street has already recorded a significant spike in truck traffic since the extension of curfews on Somerville Road in Yarraville and Moore Street in Footscray.
Mr Williams said traffic banking up had a flow-on effect in surrounding streets and delayed buses trying to reach the Buckley Street depot from Victoria Street.
“If this is the future for the next 18 months, what we will have is a continued local mess.”
A spokesman for Roads Minister Luke Donnellan said the minister apologised for the severe disruptions experienced by so many due to the CityLink Tulla widening project.
“Roadworks, unfortunately, can lead to additional travel times in the short term, but these works are essential if we are to ensure our road network can handle our growing population.”
The government has been criticised for failing to add more train services to the west, but Mr Donnellan said everything was being done to assist drivers impacted by the works.
Additional CCTV cameras have been installed at key intersections and VicRoads is increasing green traffic light times to keep vehicles moving.
“We know this will mean delays for motorists … and we know it will take time for people to settle in to different driving conditions and travel patterns.”
VicRoads did not respond.
