Logan City locals may have noticed increased traffic and major congestion on the M1 and connecting Logan City roads of late, and the RACQ has looked at the statistics and has shared what the real issue is.
Despite weekday traffic on the M1 being worse than usual, RACQ representative Lauren Ritchie said the worst days for traffic congestion on the M1, flowing from the Gold Coast, through Logan City, and to Brisbane, are Friday afternoons and the weekends.
“When we look at our traffic data it’s quite alarming to see that the weekend traffic is actually far worse than it is on weekdays,” she said.
“Even at our peak hour in the am, heading up or down the M1, we can see that travel is actually worse on a Friday afternoon or Saturday when people are heading to the Gold Coast for the beaches on the weekend.
“For many commuters this data would not surprise you. We’ve actually seen a huge increase in traffic congestion right across South East Queensland.
“In fact we’re seeing levels of congestion we haven’t seen even prior to covid. Far more people are now relying on their private motor vehicles.”
Ms Ritchie said this was most likely because locals are skeptical of public transport since the Covid-19 pandemic.
“People are more reliant on their cars,” she said.
“But everyone is doing that. So our roads are becoming more clogged.
“What we need to do to try and resolve this congestion issue in the short term is looking at re-timing and remodeling our transport.
“So you could leave at a different time and stagger your starts to get to work or school and then look at utilising public transport or active transport if you feel safe to do so.
“Locals know where the bad congestion is at peak times. The way to avoid that is to stay off the road then.”
