VPN - Melbourne’s Traffic Flow Improves

Melbourne’s Traffic Flow Improves

The recent improvements in Melbourne’s Road network such as the Western Ring Road and the South Eastern Freeway upgrade have contributed to total reductions in delays of 5.5% between 1995 and 1997.

Results of the VicRoads Traffic System Performance Monitoring for 1996-97 showed average morning peak speed on inner sections of Melbourne freeways was just over 49km/hr, compared with 47km/hr in 1995/96.

The most dramatic improvements were on the South Eastern Freeway, in which outbound peak travel time improvements of 10 minutes from Batman Ave to Warrigal Rd and inbound improvements of 8 minutes from Warrigal Rd to Toorak Rd were achieved.

The Western Ring Road is now used by 85,000 vehicles per day, and a number of other main roads in the northern and western suburbs have seen truck usage decline by up to 80%. The annual cost of road congestion in Victoria is estimated at $1.8 billion.

(News Release, Minister for Roads and Ports, July 22, 1998)(‘Traffic System Performance Monitoring’, VicRoads, July 1998)