Melburnians driving over the West Gate Bridge are facing delays of more than an hour due to planned maintenance, and travellers have been urged to consider alternate routes.
About 11.25am on Saturday, delays exceeded one hour for city-bound motorists on the West Gate Freeway and there were 15-minute delays for those heading outbound, as three of the five lanes in both directions were closed, a Transport Victoria spokesperson told 3AW.
“Delays of up to 60 minutes are likely so consider avoiding travel over the bridge,” VicTraffic said in a post on X.
Outbound lanes will reopen on 6pm on Monday, while city-bound lanes will remain closed until 6am on January 4.
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The annual maintenance began on Boxing Day evening to ease traffic during a busy day on the roads, as travellers headed across the city to begin their holidays.
It is faster for city-bound travellers to travel from Victoria’s west along either Geelong Road or Ballarat Road than cross the bridge, the Transport Victoria spokesperson told 3AW.
Transport Victoria has also recommended commuters travelling to the city from the west use the newly opened West Gate Tunnel. The $10.2 billion project opened earlier this month and is designed to accommodate 67,000 vehicles a day and offer an alternative to the bridge.
On Saturday morning, navigation apps Google Maps and Waze indicated that drivers travelling from the CBD to the west would save time using the tunnel.
Motorists must pay a toll fee of $4.09 for a car and $6.54 for a van to use the tunnel outside the morning rush, when it costs more. The fee is a separate charge to CityLink tolls.
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