Without a planned Princes Motorway interchange at Mt Ousley Road, by 2041 it could take drivers nearly half an hour to travel a few kilometres.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Last week Roads and Maritime Services (RMS) released a report on plans for an interchange at the intersection of the Princes Motorway and Mt Ousley Road.
The interchange would include a northern entrance and exit for the University of Wollongong and a relocation of the commuter car park on Mt Ousley Road.
In the report, it highlights the congestion caused by drivers heading towards the university.
“The southbound morning queue from University Avenue regularly extends back toward the motorway with vehicles going to the university and surrounds,” the report states.
It’s a situation predicted to get worse over the next 25 years.
“Modelling shows that in the future years these queues will regularly extend back onto the Princes Motorway in peak hours and past the Mt Ousley Road intersection, blocking access into Wollongong,” the report states.
At present the travel time along the motorway from just west of the Mt Ousley Road intersection to the university – a distance of 2.6 kilometres - is 12.1 minutes in peak hour.
By 2041 that time is predicted to almost double to 21.1 minutes.
The report also identifies the dangers of the Mt Ousley Road intersection, citing it as a location with a history of crashes.
“Thirty-four crashes were recorded near the intersection during the 10-year period between July 2004 and June 2014,” the RMS report states.
“Of these 34 crashes, one crash resulted in one fatality and four injuries, and 13 were injury crashes resulting in 23 injuries.”
The difference in speed limits for cars and heavy vehicles travelling southbound along the Princes Motorway is also cited as a risk factor for vehicles looking to turn out of Mt Ousley Road.
The report states the present time a vehicle spends waiting to turn right in the morning peak as 120 seconds.
That is predicted to increase to almost three minutes by 2041.