Bridge Inn Road motorists are set for a reprieve from gridlock when temporary traffic lights are reconfigured to cope with peak hour traffic.
Earlier this month, traffic lights on Bridge Inn Road near Sackville Street were blamed for a spike in peak hour traffic congestion at Mernda.
A building contractor in the process of upgrading the intersection installed temporary traffic lights on February 4, a week after students returned to school and many parents resumed work.
The traffic lights then caused significant delays, with some motorists complaining about waiting 15 minutes to get through the intersection well before 7am.
Patriece Paxinos wrote on Whittlesea council’s Facebook page that on one morning traffic was banked up for 200 metres as early as 6am.
Another motorist complained that she waited 20 minutes at 5pm before being able to pass through the intersection.
After fielding many complaints, Whittlesea council worked with the contractor to alleviate traffic congestion and dust in surrounding streets.
The council asked the developer to provide longer green-light cycles during peak hour to allow more traffic to pass through the intersection, and to continue monitoring traffic conditions to see if the “green time” needed to be increased further. The road works are expected to be finished by March 14.
