Tens of thousands of motorists will have their peak-hour journeys increased despite the NSW government spending $175 million trying to remove a notorious traffic bottleneck.

The government has boasted that the project, which includes the three-lane duplication of the Iron Cove Bridge that opened late on Friday night, could shave up to 18 minutes off city-bound bus journeys along Victoria Road.

But traffic experts say motorists living in Drummoyne and on the Balmain peninsula will suffer an average 30 per cent increase in the time they spend in choked residential streets trying to get on to the main road during the morning peak.

Road closures, new traffic light sequences to extend green lights on Victoria Road, peak-hour bus lanes, increased clearway times and a tidal traffic flow system (allowing four lanes into the city during the morning peak) have been introduced on a 3.5-kilometre stretch of Victoria Road, named the Inner West Busway.

And during the morning peak Cary Street in Drummoyne will be closed to traffic wanting to enter Victoria Road from Henley Marine Drive.
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Leichhardt mayor Jamie Parker said a change in the traffic light sequences would make it harder for residents to get out of the Balmain peninsula and Drummoyne.

''Tens of thousands of people on the Balmain peninsula, Rozelle and in Drummoyne will be impacted by these changes.''

read more of the story at Sydney Morning Herald

A spokesman for the Port Jackson Greens released this statement:

The Duplicate Iron Cove Bridge opened secretly on Friday night despite assurances from The Premier, Kristina Keneally that she would preside over the event. The only people there to witness the opening were construction workers, slow moving traffic and a few residents tired from yet another night of unnecessary construction noise from this over budget project.

The Iron Cove Bridge duplication is yet another bungled transport project by the NSW Labor Government and was completed despite the RTA's own traffic analysis stating that the projected traffic improvements would not eventuate.

For those of you who missed the actual opening the Sydney Morning Herald has reported that the our current Premier Kristina Keneally will apparently be opening the already open Duplicate Iron Cove Bridge at 10am this morning (Sunday).

The opening of a Bridge that is already open follows the long held Labor tradition of announcing of projects that have already been announced. If you miss this event we can reasonably expect that there will be another opening at some stage before the next election.

The same SMH story also highlights another fact highlighted by the No New Bridge campaign that those loving in Drummoyne, Balmain & Rozelle can expect a 30% increase in travel times as they try to get onto Victoria Road.