Well, I'm back.LOTS of people out and about giving the tunnel a...

Well, I'm back.

LOTS of people out and about giving the tunnel a try.

They tell you to turn your radio on when going through the tunnel, as this is where the control centre will broadcast any relevant info. This happened on my final return trip from Ipswich Rd to Bowen Hills...the local radio stations are re-broadcast in the tunnel, but a recorded message from the control centre interrupted the signal every minute or so to advise that there was heavy traffic congestion at the Bown Bridge Rd exit. Pretty cool. Does the Burnley Tunnel do this?

I guess we need to let people get used to the tunnel, but people tonight seemed to be travelling well under the speed limit most of the time, especially when the road started to incline towards the surface!

A couple of observations from a shareholder perspective.

1. I can't see many people stumping up $4.28 to travel from Lytton Rd to Bowen Bridge Rd (or vice versa). Distance is too short, and only cuts out about 6 significant sets of traffic lights. I think the Lytton Rd exit will come into its own when the Clem 7 is hooked up with BrisConnect's project at Bowen Hills in a couple of years. Also, those travelling south and wanting to head down Lytton Rd need to merge LEFT into Lytton Rd (which is pretty uncommon up here) and into the traffic coming off the Story Bridge. This might be a bit difficult in peak conditions, and might be a bit off-putting.

2. I think there will be HUGE problems at the Bowen Bridge Rd exit (northside) during peak times, as probably at least 80% (my guess) of the north bound traffic will want to exit north here onto Lutwyche Rd. Basically, you will have all this free flowing northbound traffic on the Clem 7 coming to a grinding halt at one set of traffic lights 200m after the tunnel exit, as there is substantial traffic along Bowen Bridge rd / Lutyche rd that will need a fair share of the green light (this was the warning I mentioned up above...and the problem was 8.00pm local time!!). Again, when Clem 7 hooks into the BrisConnect project in a couple of years, these problems will pretty much go away.

It will be fascinating to see how the traffic moves over the coming weeks, and whether some negative feedback will start to creep in (at the moment, everyone -media included- is in celebration mode).