Australia’s $4BILLION road disaster: Baffling motorway layout is confusing drivers – amid urgent warnings that motorists could soon be KILLED
- Sydney’s M4 opened in July but many motorists are confused with road changes
- Some are seen reversing out of tunnels and there’s been 300 incidents reported
- Warnings have been put in place that someone could die due to erratic driving
A $4billion new road is confusing drivers with its layout – and experts have warned motorists could be killed in devastating collisions if it is not fixed.
Sydney’s new M4, dubbed WestConnex, opened in July, and drivers have been seen swerving dangerously across multiple lanes, seemingly baffled at which way to go.
Within a month of the motorway’s opening, response vehicles were called to 300 crashes in the road’s tunnels.
The M4, dubbed WestConnex, (pictured) opened in July but even three months down the track, motorists are dangerously swerving across multiple lanes of traffic amid confusion of new road changes.
Several cars are stopping just moments before the tunnel’s entrance in a bid to avoid paying the $4.27 toll forcing oncoming traffic to swerve around them
The motorway was sent into chaos during the first month following its opening as several cars were spotted slamming on the breaks and reversing out of tunnels just to avoid the toll fee.
‘You’ll either kill yourself or somebody else, it’s that simple. Don’t do it,’ New South Wales Transport Minister Andrew Constance told reporters in August, after several cars were driving dangerously.
One Ashfield resident told News.com.au that the drivers who tried to get out of paying the $4.27 toll at the last minute were putting their lives at risk.
‘Someone’s going to die up there one day,’ they said.
Accident Research Centre research fellow Nimmi Candappa said drivers making dangerous turns even months after the opening was a concern.
‘If it’s happening regularly, it’s a worry. I’ve looked at physical crashes and potential crashes and just because one hasn’t eventuated yet doesn’t mean it won’t one day,’ she said.
One resident believed motorists were driving so erratically on the new M4 that they could lose their lives
‘The fact that drivers are doing this is an indication they are not able to anticipate what is expected of them … and they’re doing all sorts of strange things.’
Ms Candappa said that another lane or fewer turns off the motorway could help make road conditions easier for drivers.
Some major areas of concern were Parramatta and Ashfield as many cars were seen driving erratically, swerving into lanes at the last minute and merging into oncoming traffic.
According to the publication, on average one car made a dangerous move nearly every minute on Wattle Street in Ashfield, during different time periods in early October.
Other cars were caught pulling out onto the roads in front of oncoming trucks.
The M4 tunnels are expected to save drivers 45 minutes of travel time along the road in peak hour and bypass 22 sets of traffic lights.
‘This is a major step towards giving back more time to people, so they spend less time in traffic and more time with family and friends, as well as doing the things they love,’ NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters during the opening in July.
The next stage of WestConnex – an extension of the M5 to St Peters – is expected to open next year.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted NSW Transport for comment.
The M4 tunnels are expected to save drivers 45 minutes of travel time along the road in peak hour and bypass 22 sets of traffic lights