Western Australian Transport Minister Dean Nalder this week announced in a statement that the first of five new ‘congestion-busting’ exit lanes on WA freeways was open.
The southbound exit to South Street on the Kwinana Freeway opened at the weekend and another is due to open on the Freeway’s northbound exit to Leach Highway from October 25.
The exits on the Kwinana Freeway come under a $2.5 million project aimed at busting congestion and improving traffic flow on Perth freeways.
Three additional dedicated exits lanes will be added to the Mitchell Freeway under the project. One will be at the northbound exit to Hay Street, another at the southbound exit to Hutton Street and the third at the southbound exit to Cedric Street.
“This means drivers who want to leave the freeway will have their own dedicated exit lanes, allowing traffic to run more smoothly,” Mr. Nalder said in the statement. “This allows through-traffic to flow and reduces ‘pinch-point’ congestion associated with merging two lanes into one.”
An initiative of the Traffic Congestion Management Program, the new clearly marked exit lanes will remove merge points to allow traffic to exit the freeway without causing disruption to the flow of traffic.
A total of $8.5 million is being spent this year to improve merge lines and add exit lanes as part of the Western Australian Government’s $40 million congestion package.