Transport officials have decided against pursuingan option to install traffic signals in the interchange tunnels where vehicles from the Iron Cove Link and the M4 motorway merge to control the rate at which vehicles pass. The possibility of erecting them further west on the M4,which,like the interchange,is part of WestConnex,will also not be pursued.
Ramp meters were installed on Victoria Road and the City West Link for CBD-bound motorists approaching the Anzac Bridge when the interchange opened.
Re-routing500X buses through the 1.1-kilometre Iron Cove Link tunnel,which bypasses a stretch of Victoria Road,has also been put on the back burner.
Greens MP for Balmain Kobi Shetty said the government had wasted an opportunity over the holidays to make a meaningful difference to reducing congestion.
“The[roads] minister told us last year that everything was on the table,and it looks like they are backing away from any option that is going to transform the design to alleviate congestion around Rozelle,” she said. “They are trying to push a huge capacity of vehicles through the eye of a needle.”
However,Shetty said Balmain and Rozelle residents wanted 500X buses to keep running along Victoria Road,instead of detouring through the new tunnel,because they relied on them to get into the CBD. “Other buses are full,and just sail by bus stops before the Anzac Bridge,” she said.