Article: Peak hour is a farce, as average speed dips to just 5km/h

[ozbob]

From the Herald Sun click here!

Peak hour is a farce, as average speed dips to just 5km/h

Peak hour is a farce, as average speed dips to just 5km/h

    Nathan Mawby
    From: Herald Sun
    July 05, 2011 12:00AM

THE city's most sluggish streets have been exposed.

And drivers will not be surprised to learn the northern and eastern suburbs have the worst bottlenecks - especially if there's a railway crossing involved.

Drivers who complain the major arterials are more like parking lots than roads also will not be surprised to hear average travel speeds during the morning commute dip as low as 5km/h.

Slow spots along Sydney Rd appear linked to level crossings running parallel to the busy road.

Some of the worst bottlenecks are the Eastern Freeway at Hoddle St, the intersection of Alma Rd and Barkly St in St Kilda, and Power St, Hawthorn.

A Channel 7 Freedom of Information request to VicRoads revealed the evening rush was anything but, with traffic crawling past the intersection of Burke and Pleasant roads in Camberwell Junction at just 5.73km/h.

And with off-peak travel times at the same intersection less than 4km/h faster the RACV is calling on the government to act.

Spokesman Brian Negus last night warned the delays were worsening and costing us money as well as time.

"Congestion is currently costing Victorians about

$3 billion a year and this will rise to $6 billion by the year 2020," he warned.

He called for an expansion of bus and train services as well as efforts to further streamline existing roads infrastructure, including constructing under and overpasses along Hoddle St, which was identified as one of the slowest roads in Melbourne in the morning peak.

"We need a solid go from the Government, both on roads and on public transport and the formation of a transport plan to improve our roads and public transport to give Victorians a better go," he said.

The call was echoed by the Committee for Melbourne, which called for greater public transport investment and for level crossings to be addressed.