Melbourne peak-hour traffic stretches 17km as West Gate tunnel works run overtime

Inbound traffic to the city of Melbourne hit a standstill on Thursday morning as West Gate freeway works went overtime – forcing cars to merge into a single lane over the West Gate bridge.

Motorists faced queues stretching back as far as Hoppers Crossing due to the funnelling at Williamstown Road. This had flow-on effects for Melbourne’s west where irate drivers faced wait times of up to two hours to cross the West Gate bridge into the city.

The cause for the delays are being attributed to tunnel works which ran overtime into Thursday morning. This has come at a particularly frustrating time as Melburnians return to work after the work-from-home recommendation was repealed.

Commuters are being warned to allow extra time for journeys into the city, while it’s also suggested that drivers travel on Geelong Road through Footscray.

All lanes in the lead up to the West Gate bridge were opened by 9:30am on Thursday, though the queues took a long time to ease.

Melburnians able to work-from-home or commute outside peak-hour have been recommended to do so for the remainder of the week, in case further delays to the tunnel project are to come.