M5 East

Early this morning I collected three students from Central Railway headed to Revesby. They were Year 12 students returning home from their end of year formal celebrations. After missing the last train they requested I take the M5 Motorway.

However the dreaded M5 East tunnel was closed for...whatever it is they continually close the bloody thing for...necessitating a detour through Kyeemagh, Bexley and Beverly Hills, before rejoining the freeway at King Georges road.

When one is expecting a high speed, uninterrupted run to south-west Sydney this is especially frustrating. Fortunately there was no traffic otherwise my weary passengers would have been understandably peeved.

Office workers encountering this constant M5 East closure late at night really seethe over the detour. So just for the exercise I've decided to calculate the extra distance.

View larger map

The affected freeway section measures 9 kilometres with an average speed of 90 kph. The detour route through the suburbs measures 11.3 kilometres for an average speed around 50kph and approximately 20 sets of traffic lights. Grrrr.

Another factor, however, is that my taxi network don't issue general broadcasts warning the tunnel is closed for the evening. If so, I could have taken a direct route to Revesby via Canterbury Road...the same route taken by Mark Latham's cabbie!

UPDATE: M5 East one of the most polluted road tunnels in the world.

Comments

[Rainer the cabbie]

I love the M5, a crowning achievement for the NSW Labour government. It congested from day one, the ventilation systems never worked, it has only two lanes in parts instead of the four it requires, and it costs an arm and a leg to use. Maybe it is part of a greater plan to force Sydneysiders onto public transport. What, I hear you say, trains, buses and ferries are underfunded and unreliable? Reap what you sow. What a pity the current Governor General is not a drunk, or we could ask for a dismissal.