√Australia’s busiest bridge to close this Christmas

Victorian holiday makers could face delays of up to 90 minutes over the New Year break, as the state’s busiest bridge shuts down for 10 days.

Victorian holiday makers are being warned of “significant delays” ahead of Melbourne’s heavily congested West Gate Bridge closing multiple lanes for maintenance over the busy Christmas holiday period.

Four out of five outbound lanes will be closed from 9pm on Monday 26 December 2022 (Boxing Day) to 6am Wednesday 4 January 2023, resulting in delays of more than 90 minutes for motorists using the bridge to travel to popular holiday destinations.

VicRoads has advised motorists planning to use the popular passage to “avoid the area and detour early”, issuing specific route guidance for motorists travelling into the city, to the airport, or the Bellarine Peninsula and Surf Coast tourist hotspots.

Although the maintenance happens every year, this year’s closures are more extensive because of the nature of the work being conducted.

“We’re replacing the waterproof membrane underneath the road surface,” Chris Miller, a spokesperson for the Victorian Department of Transport, told Drive.

“Usually we’re able to leave two lanes open, but this year we’re working on the middle outbound lane, which is why we need more space.

“We are acutely aware of how disruptive and annoying this is and because of that we’re throwing every resource we have on it.”

To minimise impacts to drivers, Drive also understands works on the West Gate Tunnel – a much-anticipated 6.8km alternative to the West Gate Bridge – won’t ramp up until January, after the West Gate Bridge maintenance has been completed.

The West Gate Bridge, which opened in 1978, connects Melbourne’s west with the CBD is Australia’s most congested bridge, carrying more than 200,000 vehicles per day.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge, although iconic, isn’t as busy as the West Gate Bridge in Melbourne.

By comparison, the Sydney Harbour Bridge attracts roughly 150,000 vehicles a day, while Sydney’s nearby Anzac Bridge has an average daily vehicle count of around 135,000.

According to a Western Australia Main Roads spokesperson: “The Narrows Bridge is WA’s busiest bridge carrying around 188,000 vehicles on average per working day.”

Meanwhile, South Australia’s busiest bridge, the Hindmarsh Bridge in Thebarton, has an average daily traffic volume of just 70,600 road users.

Similarly, Tasmania’s most-used bridge, the Tasman Bridge, has an average of 70,000 vehicle crossings a day.

Queensland features several popular bridges, including the Story Bridge and the Captain Cook Bridge, but Drive understands the most heavily trafficked bridge is located over the Coomera River, along the Pacific Motorway connecting Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

However, the daily traffic volume along that particular bridge – and major bridges in the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory – is substantially less than on Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge.

“It’s a really vital link to Melbourne, a lot of people use it,” Mr Miller from the Victorian Department of Transport said.

“We know [the maintenance work] is disruptive, annoying and painful, but it has to be done. Unfortunately the way the bridge is constructed it’s not a set and forget.

“We do know for sure that it is the absolute quietest time of year on that stretch of the network, with an expected drop-off in traffic of around 25 per cent. If we were to do it another time the disruption would be worse.”

Victorian motorists planning their trip around the West Gate Bridge closure to seek alternative routes at the VicRoads website.

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