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Motorists face weeks of chaos

Sydney faces the worst traffic congestion ever in coming months, with the State Government warning that chaos caused by the opening of the Cross City Tunnel will affect most of the city.

The chaos expected in the CBD after the tunnel opens on Sunday could last as long as six months, the Roads and Traffic Authority says. The evening peak is likely to be so bad, it says, that commuters should expect hours of delays.

The western side of the CBD near the ramp to the Anzac Bridge will be choked, especially on Market Street because it will funnel most of the city's westbound traffic onto the bridge.

A section of Druitt Street between Clarence and Kent streets will be devoted to buses after the tunnel opens, forcing all traffic onto narrow Clarence Street and then onto Market Street. Market Street is expected to be so clogged in the evenings that traffic will be virtually at a standstill from the Anzac Bridge ramp back to David Jones on Elizabeth Street.

The Government has acknowledged that the road changes are likely to cause a traffic nightmare for many weeks, particularly because as few as 30,000 cars a day will use the tunnel initially.

The tunnel was designed to ease congestion in the CBD by taking 90,000 cars a day off the streets but it would be months before that figure was reached, said Paul Willoughby, a spokesman for the roads authority.

The traffic situation would get worse before it improved, he said. "We're bracing ourselves for the worst traffic problems we've ever had in the CBD."

The RTA is so worried about the traffic problems that from Monday, its most experienced traffic managers will operate an emergency response team modelled on the one used by the authority during the 2000 Olympics. The team will monitor special traffic cameras installed throughout the CBD and will be able to change the timing of traffic lights and to direct crews to areas when traffic banks up.

Mr Willoughby conceded that the team would not save motorists from long delays, especially in the next couple of weeks.

from smh