Michael Ferguson,Minister for Infrastructure and Transport
New tow trucks to remove traffic-blocking vehicles have arrived in Hobart to assist us to deliver on our plan to reduce congestion in Hobart during peak periods.
Getting where you need to go, when you need to be there is important for all Tasmanians. So from today, a range of measures will come into force to reduce congestion in the Hobart CBD and key feeder routes.
These include:
- an extension of tow truck hours to run all day on the Tasman Bridge;
- tow away signs installed on Macquarie St;
- clearways on Macquarie St extended by an hour each morning to start from 6.30am; and
- the first of a new fleet of the latest quick-response tow trucks arriving to service the Hobart CBD and key feeder routes.
These tough new measures have been made possible since the Hodgman majority Liberal Government took over control of Davey and Macquarie Streets from the Hobart City Council.
From October 14, new incident response tow trucks will be used to remove vehicles from clearways on Macquarie Street in the morning peak period to improve the reliability of traffic flow through the city.
In preparation for this major change, from today clearway hours on Macquarie Street will be extended by an hour in the morning to begin at 6.30am, with signage updated to make it known.
We understand that changing traffic conditions can be challenging, so there will be a minimal grace period to adjust to the tow truck enforcement, while tickets will still be issued.
Quickly responding to breakdowns, traffic incidents or illegally parked cars will play a key role in improving time reliability and traffic flow on Hobart's streets.
As part of our expanded incident response program, from today the incident response service on the Tasman Bridge will be extended to operate from 7am to 6pm, during the week.
The Tasman Bridge is key for the movement of traffic across Hobart. The extended service will allow us to respond immediately to incidents on the bridge throughout the day, and reduce the chance that any flow-on delays continue into the afternoon peak.
In the coming months, a similar service will be rolled out to respond to incidents during the morning and afternoon peaks on the Southern Outlet, Macquarie and Davey Streets, Brooker Highway, Domain Highway, Tasman Highway and East Derwent Highway.
This program will allow for incidents to be cleared more quickly, allowing busy arterials to return to normal service faster, at the busiest times of the day.
Continuing to build an efficient and effective transport network for Hobart is a key priority and our comprehensive traffic incident response plan, utilising leading traffic management technology, is part of our broader commitment to maintaining Hobart's liveability.
