Traffic jam on Horse Park Drive this morning. Photo: Supplied.
There was chaos on Gungahlin roads this morning after two separate accidents on Horse Park Drive early this morning caused major delays in traffic, with the roads log-jammed hours later.
An ACT Policing spokesperson said police were called to an incident on Horse Park Drive, Kenny at 6.29am this morning (15 May).
According to the spokesperson, there had actually been two separate two-vehicle collisions, one on the northbound carriageway, the other on the southbound, but all vehicles were off the roadway when police arrived.
“As the collisions occurred on one of Gungahlin’s major arterial roads at the start of the morning peak period, there was a major impact on traffic flow, but Horse Park Drive was only officially closed for a few minutes to allow street sweepers to do their work,” the spokesperson said.
According to ESA ACT, ACT Ambulance Service took one male patient to hospital.
Gungahlin Acting Officer In Charge Sergeant Stephen Rollings says incidents such as these should be a timely reminder for drivers to be vigilant.
“When our officers arrived to assist, they noticed that motorists were not driving to the conditions, and were still going too fast,” he said.
“There was heavy fog in the area, and most drivers were not obeying the road rule to slow down to 40km/h when emergency vehicles are at a scene. Our officers had positioned police vehicles with emergency lights flashing on approach to the scene, to give motorists plenty of time to slow down.
“It was disappointing to see this driver behaviour, which places the safety of police and other first responders at risk, and exposes the victims of the collision to the potential of further injuries or damage to the vehicles involved.”
It left many parents and workers stranded on Horse Park Drive and caused major traffic delays across Gungahlin roads.
One frustrated driver said:
“I left Ngunnawal at 6.35am. Hit the traffic a km or so past Forde. Took me 1hr and 25 mins to do the 30min commute to Brindabella Park. The accident is about 200m before the left turnoff to the Federal Hwy.”
Another person said that it was the “biggest traffic jam I’ve ever experienced in Canberra”.
The accident was still causing delays at 10:14 am when Transport Canberra tweeted to followers there was a 20 to 40-minute delay on their services.
Customers please note that due to heavy traffic on Flemington Road numerous services travelling from Gungahlin are running between 20-40 minutes late. We thank you for your patience during this time.
— Transport Canberra (@Transport_CBR) May 15, 2018
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