00:00 There have been many unhappy drivers on the roads in Sydney this week since the opening
00:06 of the new Roselle interchange.
00:08 This is a complex set of underground tunnels that was built in order to bust congestion,
00:13 but instead it's turned into a headache for the government and for commuters.
00:17 Earlier this morning here on Victoria Road there was heavy traffic and cars were crawling
00:22 along Victoria Road, but now traffic is moving freely.
00:26 All of this week commuters have been complaining about lengthy delays and heavy traffic as
00:31 they head towards the city.
00:33 And drivers coming from places like Haberfield, Roselle and Balmain say that what used to
00:38 be a 15 minute commute to the city has now turned into around an hour.
00:42 And part of the reason for this, according to the state's peak motoring association,
00:47 the NRMA, is that there are now more cars trying to get onto the existing lanes at the
00:51 city bound entrances of the Anzac Bridge.
00:54 So what used to be seven lanes merging into four has now become ten lanes turning into
00:59 four, creating a major choke point.
01:02 The Transport for New South Wales CEO Howard Collins has pleaded with drivers for patience,
01:08 saying that talks are urgently underway with the government to try to solve these congestion
01:13 issues.
01:14 This is a little bit of what Howard Collins had to say.
01:17 No solution is off the table and we've got teams of people looking at physical options,
01:23 but also harmonising and looking at the data and making sure that we optimise the Roselle
01:30 interchange.
01:31 Part of the plan from transport authorities involves fine tuning sets of traffic lights
01:36 as well as banning trucks from nearby metro construction sites from using these areas
01:41 during the morning and afternoon peak times.
01:43 But there's also been a warning issued to drivers.
01:46 The government says that heavy traffic is no excuse for drivers to use the bus lanes
01:51 and they say that police will be out in force today to issue fines to drivers who are caught
01:56 using the bus lane.
01:57 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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