Barton Highway tops list of ACT's worst roads due to congestion
The Barton Highway has been named as the ACT's worst road.
Motorists who took part in the NRMA's annual survey said the stretch of road at Giralang in Canberra's north was too congested.
Gundaroo Drive at Ngunnawal was named as Canberra's second worst road, followed by Wentworth Avenue in Kingston.
NRMA local director Alan Evans said the Barton Highway was so bad it had been named in the top five worst roads in both the ACT and New South Wales.
"Given the amount of traffic on that road in the peak morning and afternoon periods, it absolutely needs to be duplicated," he said.
"Otherwise we're going to see more crashes, more deaths, more injury on the Barton Highway as that traffic density increases."
Mr Evans said the ACT Government had committed funds to upgrade the roundabout at the intersection of the Barton Highway and William Slim and Gundaroo drives.
"However, further north up the highway in NSW it's a completely different story," he said.
"Sir Edmund Barton would be rolling in his grave if he knew his namesake road was in such a poor and dangerous condition."
Mr Evans said the ACT Government should be building roads properly in the first place rather than trying to fix them up later.
"With Wentworth Avenue in Kingston it's the fact that the road surface is deteriorating," he said.
"It's not something we're used to in Canberra. We've prided ourselves on a good road surface.
"Gundaroo Drive is congestion and that's something we haven't seen for many years since the single-lane Gungahlin Drive extension."
New ads warn against dangers of tailgating
The ACT Government has also launched a new road safety campaign to try to stop Canberra drivers from tailgating.
There were almost 8,000 traffic crashes in the ACT last year, and just under half of those were rear-end crashes.
Attorney-General Simon Corbell said the Government was encouraging drivers to slow down and leave a safe distance to the car in front.
"The Government does get many complaints from people concerned about tailgating," he said.
"This new campaign is in response to that, recognising that tailgating does contribute significantly towards the injury toll on our roads.
"The message is for Canberrans to slow down and focus on the three-second rule.
"That distance between yourself and the vehicle in front can make all the difference between being able to prevent a rear-end collision."
The new television commercials will air next month.
