Long haul to top for Easter Sunday drivers
Cable car company says it’s the solution to congestion
MT Wellington’s Pinnacle Rd is being loved to death — plagued by traffic congestion. Visitor numbers to the summit over the Easter break have been so great that Tasmania Police warned motorists of “abnormally” long delays for the drive to the summit. The road has been clogged daily with hire cars, buses and caravans all jostling to get a bird’s-eye view.
Council and cable car proponents say urgent action is needed to protect the 80-yearold Pinnacle Rd.
TRAFFIC congestion on Pinnacle Rd could drop by 60 per cent if the Mt Wellington cable car comes to fruition, say its proponents.
Mt Wellington is Tasmania’s third most visited attraction, behind Salamanca Market and Mona, with more than 500,000 visitors taking to the summit last year.
Traffic has been an issue over the Easter long weekend, with Tasmania Police warning of an “abnormally” large amount of traffic causing delays on Pinnacle Rd up to the top of the mountain. Even yesterday a number of hire cars, buses and caravans saw a greater volume of traffic up to the summit.
Mount Wellington Cableway Company chairwoman Jude Franks told the Mercury yesterday the project would alleviate such issues.
Ms Franks expected a cable car to reduce vehicles by 60 per cent on Pinnacle Rd and would predominantly remove almost all tourist buses and hire cars from the mountain.
“This should extend the current lifespan of the road and avoid costly and unsightly widening to bring the 80year-old road to modern standards,” she said.
“The road is not safe at the moment due to the sheer volume of cars and buses on most days and inexperienced tourist drivers. We also want to incentivise locals to choose to travel by cableway.”
Her comments come as the Hobart City Council calls for expressions of interest for an all-year, all-weather shuttle bus to the summit.
The council hopes the process will encourage the private sector to pitch its case for operating a service beyond the access gates to Pinnacle Rd when they are closed due to snow and ice but conditions are still safe.
Snow and ice last year forced 21 days of closures of Pinnacle Rd as part of a council policy of pre-emptive road closures if snow was expected to fall overnight.
The EOI process will help council gauge the level of interest in the project, the scope of services that could be provided and infrastructure, approvals and operational requirements.