Is this Perth’s most congested road?

NICHOLSON Road is one of Australia’s Perth’s most congested roads.

A review of Australia’s roads released last week rated Nicholson Road the second worst for time spent in congestion, with commuters spending 40 per cent of their journey stuck in traffic in the morning peak.

And it’s only going to get worse; although it is expected to slip to fourth in 2031, commuters are likely to spend 52 per cent of their journey time stuck in traffic in the morning peak and 48 per cent in the afternoon peak.

According to the audit by Infrastructure Australia, time spent stuck in traffic on the 22km stretch of road from Cannington to Oakford will almost double by 2031.

Julie Morris, of Canning Vale, uses Nicholson Road five days a week to get to work in Victoria Park and can not imagine it getting any worse.

“It’s an absolute nightmare using Nicholson Road in the morning,’’ she said.

“You’ve got people going to work and parents doing the school drop-offs and on a bad day it can take up to 50 minutes to get to work.”

Ms Morris said on a weekend it took her just 25 to 30 minutes.

The City of Canning said Nicholson Road was currently taking pressure off the heavily congested north-south arterial roads such as Tonkin, Roe and Leach highways, and the Kwinana Freeway.

While no funding has been allocated to Nicholson Road in its 2019-20 budget, it is forecast that the City will work with the Public Transport Authority to investigate measures to improve public transport between Metcalfe Road in Lynwood and Albany Highway in Cannington.

“It is anticipated that with State-led projects upgrading the higher classification north-south corridors (Tonkin Highway, Kwinana Freeway) and the east-west corridors (Karel Avenue, Armadale Road), traffic pressure will be alleviated from Nicholson Road,” Canning Mayor Paul Ng said.

“Further improvements to public transport as part of the Metronet Project should also assist in alleviating traffic along this corridor.

“The City has recently completed upgrades to Ranford Road, which will facilitate efficient travel via public transport to the proposed Ranford Road station.”