00:02This was the nightmare facing drivers heading back to Sydney after the long weekend.
00:08A queue of traffic stretching back several kilometres.
00:11Next weekend is set to be even worse, with tens of thousands of cars heading in the opposite direction to
00:17Mount Panorama in Bathurst.
00:19There is a diversion in place and we're asking motorists to allow extra time.
00:24It will be slow through Mount Victoria, obviously along the Darling Causeway, down to Shifley and then through Lithgow particularly.
00:33This part of the Great Western Highway has been closed in both directions since March.
00:37Transport officials are advising race goers to use other routes where possible.
00:42There are alternatives, Golden Highway, Hume Highway.
00:45I know they're a long diversion for a lot of people, but consider those as well if you're not coming
00:49out from Sydney.
00:50There is usually a mass exodus of fans on the Monday, at the end of four days of racing.
00:57This year, in an effort to avoid chaos on the road, visitors are being urged to stay longer, with a
01:02special concert planned for Monday night.
01:05If we can hold back a couple of thousand people, the people that can stay another night, the targeted audience
01:12that we want to stay on,
01:14the caravaners, the motorhomers, the people towing trailers full of camping gear.
01:18Some fans have been arriving early to beat the rush, and for a chance to meet the reigning kings of
01:24the mountain.
01:25This year though, much of the attention is off the track, with the Great Western Highway not expected to reopen
01:31until the middle of next year at the earliest.
01:34the closed occasions.
01:37It weest!
01:38You
