Major changes to Sydney Harbour Bridge lanes create commuter chaos
The biggest changes in decades to Sydney Harbour Bridge traffic have thrown the city's bus routes into chaos.
Traffic flow on the bridge has received a major overhaul as part of a $60 million project, forcing north and south-bound drivers to take new routes across the bridge.
As peak-hour traffic came to a head, the biggest impact appeared to be with city-bound buses.
One driver stuck in traffic told The Daily Telegraph he had never seen the buses banked up like they were.
Included in the new plans is a dedicated bus lane, designed to stop the rush hour backlog through the city.
Coordinater General for NSW Transport, Marg Prendergast, said the changes would take a few days for motorists to get used to.
In a reverse of previous arrangements, she said motorists heading south on the bridge for the Western Distributor should stay to the left lanes, and those en route to the city should stick to the right.
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The new changes on the bridge caused commuter delays on Monday morning. Source: LiveTraffic NSW
"It's going really well but what we've found this morning is that old habits die hard," Ms Prendergast told Sunrise.
"Drivers are doing what they've always done, we really need them to look at the big overhead signs and stick to their lanes."
But to add to the confusion, once peak hours are over, the traffic flow changes back to the old system.
"It keeps the tidal flow," Ms Prendergast said. "It's really the morning peak that's the worry. We think it's just going to be a couple of days, people will get used to it."
Ms Prendergast confirmed that no fines were being handed out by police during the transition period, and the tolls on the bridge were not changing.
