Northern suburbs top the list of congested Red Spots

16 June 2009

Perth’s northern suburbs have been named as the worst area for congestion, with six of Perth’s top 10 Red Spots located north of the river, the RAC has said.

WA motorists have named the intersection of Burns Beach Road and Connolly Drive as the State’s worst Red Spot, saying the merging lanes at the intersection’s roundabout causes havoc with traffic.

The intersection is located close to the end of the Mitchell Freeway, which is another Red Spot identified by RAC members and motorists in the State.

The notorious intersection of Horrie Miller Drive and Tonkin Highway was second on the RAC’s list while last year’s top Red Spot, Beaufort Street and Walcott Street, was third.

The RAC received almost 1,000 nominations in its recent Red Spots survey which asked motorists to name and shame the roads and intersections that made them see red.

RAC Head of Member Advocacy Matt Brown said the Red Spots campaign highlighted the growing issue of congestion in Perth.

“To have six of the top 10 Red Spots in the northern suburbs suggests infrastructure development has not kept up with population growth in that area,” Mr Brown said.

“Red Spots have been identified across the metropolitan area and this poses a major challenge for the State Government.

“The government needs to address these congestion hot spots in its new transport strategy the ‘20 year master plan for Perth’s future needs’ – a pre-election commitment made by the Liberal Government.”

Reid Highway was named four times for its intersections with Malaga Drive (7th), Alexander Drive (8th), Mirrabooka Avenue (8th) and Lord Street (11th).

“Reid Highway is an ongoing issue for our members and WA motorists and it’s about time the government grade separated key intersections along it,” Mr Brown said.

“This problem is not going to go away unless some serious roadwork is undertaken.”

According to the survey, motorists found traffic lights to be the most frustrating intersections followed by intersections with no signals or roundabouts.

The majority of Red Spots occur on weekdays in the early morning (7-9.30am) and in the late afternoon (4-6.30pm).

“Perth motorists are telling us that they’re fed-up with peak hour traffic. Improvements need to be made to Perth’s public transport network as well as its road network to help ease the pressure on our roads,” Mr Brown said.

Red Spot	Why it was nominated	Google Map
1. Burns Beach Rd – Connolly Dve	The merging of lanes at the intersection’s roundabout combined with the volume of traffic causes congestion.	Google Map
2. Tonkin Hwy – Horrie Miller Dve	High volume of traffic from the airport and industrial area; inadequate traffic lights system.	Google Map
3. Beaufort St – Walcott St	On-street parking blocks traffic flow and the traffic light system is inadequate for the amount of traffic.	Google Map
4. Gnangara Rd – Beechboro Rd	A non-controlled intersection with heavy traffic including trucks.	Google Map
Equal 5th. Mitchell Fwy – Hepburn Ave	Merging lanes can’t cope with the amount of traffic.	Google Map
Equal 5th. Joondalup Dve – Cheriton Dve	A non-controlled intersection with high traffic volume.	Google Map
7. Reid Hwy – Malaga Dve	Long delays at the intersection’s traffic lights and a high volume of traffic.	Google Map
Equal 8th. Great Eastern Hwy – Roe Hwy	Long delays at the intersection’s traffic lights and heavy traffic including trucks.	Google Map
Equal 8th. Reid Hwy – Alexander Dve	Long delays at the intersection’s traffic lights and a high volume of traffic.	Google Map
Equal 8th. Reid Hwy – Mirrabooka Ave	Long delays at the intersection’s traffic lights and a high volume of traffic.	Google Map

*Red spot numbers indicate ranking. Five of the top 10 have equal ranking.

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