Myth - Option 1 will Improve Traffic

The RMS was quite clear in June, 2012, when they stated in their Questions and Answers document  "The replacement of a bridge alone is unlikely to improve capacity, as there are other constraints beyond the scope of this project that would need to be addressed.". Those constraints are namely the surrounding intersections that have little scope for improvement. 

In a recent report from Cambray Consulting, an independent consultant on traffic hired by the Government, it states “The Bridge Street / Macquarie Street intersection is expected to be operating outside of acceptable limits of operation at the assumed year of opening of the project (2016).” (pg. 25). Nothing is being done to address this problem.

Cambray conclude their report by saying  “We suggest that it may be prudent to ‘step back’ and undertake a broader study to investigate long term solutions, and once a preferred long term solution is identified, consider a staged approach or interim treatments to progressively deliver that long term solution. This would avoid investing substantial funds into a traffic route which will have a limited ‘life’ due to constrained intersection capacity on the roads feeding the bridge." (pg. 70). Read more here.