Traffic on the Eastern Freeway slows to an average speed of just 9km/h in the morning peak as it approaches Hoddle Street and Alexandra Parade.
New data taken from bluetooth tracking of vehicles by VicRoads in 2015, reveals the inbound lanes of the Eastern Freeway in Clifton Hill is the slowest section of Melbourne's freeway network and the only part that consistently moves at less than 20km/h during peak times.
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This idea, adopted from the US, is one proposal from the Victorian Government to ease Hoddle Street's notoriously bad traffic congestion.
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Amimation: How contionuos flow intersections work
This idea, adopted from the US, is one proposal from the Victorian Government to ease Hoddle Street's notoriously bad traffic congestion.
Off-peak, freeway traffic there averages 25km/h, and in the evening peak 18km/h, still well below all other parts of the network that VicRoads monitors.
Peak hour traffic on the Eastern Freeway. Photo: Eddie Jim
The other notorious pinch point in Melbourne's freeway network, the Bolte Bridge, is getting extra lanes in response to congestion that regularly slows peak-hour traffic to less than 20km/h.
The Andrews government has not put forward a plan for congestion on the Eastern Freeway since it cancelled the East West Link after taking office in 2014, but it did confirm in 2015 that it would overhaul four major Hoddle Street intersections.
This includes "streamlining" the way vehicles get on and off the Eastern Freeway, by adding a third outbound lane and a permanent inbound bus-only lane.
Hoddle Street and Johnston Street, an east-west thoroughfare just south of the Eastern Freeway interchange, are set to become permanent 24-hour clearways as part of the overhaul.
Construction of the $60 million project is due to begin late this year or early next year, VicRoads says.
On-street parking spaces on both streets will be converted to full-time bus lanes, under a proposal the state's roads authority recently put to the community.
On Hoddle Street, parking would be removed along an 800-metre stretch of the choked 10-lane road between the Eastern Freeway and just south of Vere Street in Collingwood.
On Johnston Street, spaces would be removed on a 500-metre stretch of the road between Park Street in Abbotsford and Palmer Lane in Collingwood.
Right-hand turns from Hoddle Street into Johnston Street would also be banned and replaced by a lengthy "P-turn" manoeuvre.
The design is based on "continuous flow intersections" that exist in several US cities, but which has never been trialled in Australia.
Brendan Pauwels, VicRoads' acting executive director major projects, said the authority has two aims: it wants to make traffic flow better along Hoddle Street, and make Johnston Street "a more enjoyable place to visit and spend time".
Traffic on Johnston Street. Photo: Supplied
VicRoads has even offered $100 supermarket vouchers to people who complete a survey about what they think of Johnston Street.
One local who is concerned at the impact the government's Hoddle Street overhaul could have on Johnston Street is Jackie Fristacky, an independent councillor for the City of Yarra, which governs the area.
Cr Fristacky does not want to see Johnston Street's budding neighbourhood amenity sacrificed for the sake of accommodating more traffic.
"We need to reduce through traffic, not build more room for through traffic," Cr Fristacky said.
Johnston Street is managed by VicRoads as a major arterial road east of Hoddle Street, and by Yarra as a road with a more local function to the west.
It is increasingly dotted with small businesses such as galleries, cafes and record stores among the dormant shopfronts.
"That revival needs to be kicked along further," Cr Fristacky said.
Ryan Smith, the Opposition's roads spokesman, said the continuous flow intersection design had never been attempted in a city as large as Melbourne and risked making congestion even worse.
"The government's so-called solutions for Hoddle Street are convoluted and don't do anything to ease congestion," Mr Smith said.
The Opposition has pledged to build the cancelled East West Link between the Eastern Freeway and CityLink if it is elected next year and can gain federal funding for the project.
Luke Donnellan, the Minister for Roads said: "Hoddle Street is a vital link and a key connection to the CBD; this upgrade will improve travel times and make it safer for pedestrians and motorists.
"Along with improving bus operations we're also making the Johnston Street intersection more efficient by reviewing signal timings to reduce delays for all road users."