I mentioned a while ago that when a council has to perform roadworks, that keeping drivers as happy as possible is all about the timing. It would appear that in the last seven months, the Gold Coast City Council haven’t learnt a whole lot.

This morning on the way to work, I was traveling North on the Gold Coast Highway into Surfers Paradise at about 7.30am. I was shocked to find the traffic at a stand still at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre, when it is normally flowing smoothly at about 70kph. I looked down the road in a hope to see what was going on and couldn’t see any flashing lights or cars frantically changing lanes to avoid the obstacles. After being forced to sit in traffic for about 45 minutes and moving about 2km, I was greeted with a sign informing me to merge right. I was shocked to find that the roadworks which the sign was warning everyone about, started nearly immediately after the sign.

I would have thought it fairly important to actually give the motorists notification of the changed traffic conditions. I’m fairly sure that if that sign had of been displayed somewhere near the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre, that most people could have formed a single lane in an orderly fashion. Instead, no one was notified of the changed traffic conditions until it was too late and the start of the peak hour traffic hit a choke point; within minutes the traffic was backed up 2km down the road.

I don’t think anyone has any real issues with councils performing the roadworks, they are essential to keep the roads in great condition. However, a little bit of grey matter from the council workers on duty would go a very long way to keeping the motorists much happier.