The Go Between Bridge was not built as originally envisaged. Credit:Glenn Hunt "It's an ongoing sore on our transport network, it's a shame that it's ended up this way," Mr Turner said. He said the problem with traffic on Hale Street came about because the BCC and the State Government could not agree about the work required to make a longer turning lane. "It certainly would have impacted traffic for the construction period more than it did because it would have taken extra time but at the end of the day, that would have been some short term pain and long term gain," Mr Turner said. However Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the council's original plans to improve the intersection had not been supported by either the state government or the RACQ at the time.

Traffic backed up and waiting to turn right at the Hale Street and Coronation Drive intersection. Credit:Scott Beveridge "When council announced its proposal for the Go Between Bridge and a right-turn underpass, the state government and RACQ did not support the project on the basis of temporary traffic disruption," Cr Quirk said. "The state government refused to facilitate the project until the underpass component was removed from plans. "Regrettably, this was the best outcome to prevent the capacity issues that are now being experienced at the intersection and along the ICB." Mr Turner said the council and state government need to meet again to discuss the issue and come up with a long-term solution.

"Essentially, we need to stop traffic backing up along the ICB as they wait to turn right," he said. "At the outset what we need is a longer turning lane, and that's going to cost money and that's going to cause disruption. "There is work being done now as part of the agreement between the BCC and Transurban to upgrade further down the ICB and make the connection with Legacy Way better, perhaps there might be an opportunity after that to deal with this long-standing issue as well." While the Hale Street turning lane was clogged, Mr Turner said traffic on the two lanes for the Go Between Bridge was low. "The fact is there's not a lot of traffic turning onto the Go Between Bridge from Coronation Drive and yet we have an increasing amount of traffic using the ICB to turn onto Coronation Drive," he said.

"So there probably needs to be a good look at whether that entire area is appropriately laned, and whether we need to shuffle them around to get better traffic flow." But the Lord Mayor said now the Go Between Bridge had been competed, there was "very little opportunity for further changes". "With the existing rail bridge above Hale Street and lack of on-street width, there are few options available to alter the layout of the intersection," he said. "Council is currently investigating options, however, all options will only provide limited increased capacity and will not fully resolve congestion during peak periods."