Melburnians driving over the West Gate Bridge are facing delays of more than an hour due to planned maintenance, and travellers have been urged to consider alternate routes.<\/p>\n
About 12.45pm on Saturday, delays exceeded 70 minutes for city-bound motorists on the West Gate Freeway and there were 20-minute delays for those heading outbound, as three of the five lanes in both directions were closed, a Transport Victoria spokesperson told 3AW.<\/p>\n
\u201cDelays of up to 60 minutes are likely so consider avoiding travel over the bridge,\u201d VicTraffic said in a post on X.<\/p>\n
Outbound lanes will reopen at 6pm on Monday, while city-bound lanes will remain closed until 6am on January 4.<\/p>\n
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The annual maintenance began on Friday night to ease traffic during a busy Boxing Day on the roads, as travellers headed across the city to begin their holidays.<\/p>\n
It is faster for city-bound travellers to travel from Victoria\u2019s west along either Geelong Road or Ballarat Road than cross the bridge, the Transport Victoria spokesperson told 3AW.<\/p>\n
Transport Victoria has also recommended commuters travelling to the city from the west use the newly opened West Gate Tunnel. The $10.2 billion project opened earlier this month<\/a> and is designed to accommodate 67,000 vehicles a day and offer an alternative to the bridge<\/a>.<\/p>\n On Saturday morning, navigation apps Google Maps and Waze indicated that drivers travelling from the CBD to the west would save time using the tunnel.<\/p>\n Motorists must pay a toll fee of $4.09 for a car and $6.54 for a van to use the tunnel outside the morning rush, when it costs more. The fee is a separate charge to CityLink tolls.<\/p>\n