Completed during lockdown, the Albion Park Rail bypass has now seen out its first busy summer holiday period, and businesses along the Princes Highway are glad the infrastructure is in place.
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Ljupco Siljanovski has run his hair salon at Albion Park on the Princes Highway for 16 years and said that the bypass had reduced traffic to levels not seen for well over a decade.
"Right now I'm looking outside and there's no cars, and before the bypass opened, you'd never get a gap."
Mr Siljanovski said that his main issue is now customers are arriving too early for their appointments, having allowed enough travel time as needed prior to the bypass.
Further up at Wilson's Bike Hub, while walk-in traffic has dropped off, online sales have more than covered any shortfall, said manager Evan Batkin.
"The bypass opened as COVID was kicking off, which meant that bikes really took off at the same time," he said.
"The highway and the area around the shop is noticeably quieter."
Batkin did note that while holiday makers were taking the bypass, heavy vehicles were still using the Princes Highway, making the arterial road no safer for cyclists.
"We've seen more groups of cyclists come through on the weekends but it still seems quite busy and not a desirable area for most cyclists to be riding through."
Prior to its opening in August, the Albion Park Rail bypass had been under construction since January 2019. The long awaited road was the last piece of highway with traffic lights between Bomaderry and Heathcote.
The NSW government estimated time savings of up to 30 per cent and that 65 per cent of traffic on the Princes Highway would use the new bypass.
In the lead up to the opening, the community was able to walk the new route in June.
Jason Phillips, owner of Asylum Aquatics on the Princes Highway said his business hadn't been impacted by the road changes, but that traffic was still an issue in the area.
"From Albion Park to get on to the new freeway, it might take 20 minutes to get out of Church Street," he said.
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