Drivers frustrated by years of work on highway between Bunbury and Busselton

Work is still underway on a 17-kilometre stretch of road in the South West of WA, more than five years after upgrades were first announced.

The duplication of the Bussell Highway began in 2020 to ease congestion between Bunbury and Busselton.


But five years on, finishing works are still going even though the highway was officially opened in April, with drivers frustrated over lane closures and speed reductions.

Richelle Piggott lives in Capel and travels to Busselton five to six times a week.

She said driving on Bussell Highway was "extremely frustrating".



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Drivers are frustrated that work on the Bussell Highway is still going. (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller)


"It takes a very long time. There's a lot of different signage and I see a lot of people getting confused and unaware of the directional requirements with regards to the roadworks," Ms Piggott said.

"I can see it being a very good project once it's finished.

"But the constant frustration of broken promises and goalposts being moved with regards to when it's going to be finished? I battle to understand why it's taken so long."

Traffic diverted​

To avoid delays on the Bussell Highway, Ms Piggott said she drove along Tuart Drive, just off the highway.

Scott Olney has lived just off Tuart Drive in Ludlow for almost a decade.

He said since construction on the highway began, traffic had been diverting down the single-lane, tree-lined road to avoid the roadworks.


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A sticker was placed over the completion date on a Bussell Highway road sign, marking delays to the project. (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller)


"Down south is obviously a really popular holiday destination, but the majority of traffic has been coming down Tuart Drive," Mr Olney said.

"Five years ago, we used to be able to walk down Tuart Drive and people used to walk their horses along the road.

"But now no-one does and I'd hazard a guess it's because there's been a 500 to 1,000 per cent increase in cars."


In February, the RAC announced its top 10 riskiest roads across metropolitan and regional areas.

The intersection of Bussell Highway and Tuart Drive in Yalyalup came in at number three.

The intersection has already claimed multiple lives over the past 18 months.


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Richelle Piggott drives from Capel to Busselton at least five times a week. (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller)


A 40-year-old motorcycle rider was killed in April last year after their bike and a ute collided at the intersection.

Just two months later, an 18-year-old woman was killed at the same intersection after a collision involving a minibus.

Mr Olney said there should not be more fatalities on the road, which was getting busier.


"The road signage is inadequate; there's no extra signage, no flashing lights saying slow down, dangerous intersection," he said.

"There's other parts of the world where they've built skyscrapers in lesser time and all we've done is construct a dual highway.

"The time that it's taken to complete this road [Bussell Highway] is astronomical and we're still not there."


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Several roadside memorials are in place at the intersection of Bussell Highway and Tuart Drive. (ABC South West WA: Pip Waller)


Always a 'staged' project​

WA Transport Minister Rita Saffioti announced in February last year that the Bussell Highway duplication would be open by the end of 2024.

But while the road was completed in April 2025, finishing works requiring lane closures and speed reductions are expected to continue until the end of June or early July, depending on the weather.


Roadworks were also paused on the Easter and WA Day long weekends.

In a statement, a state government spokesperson said the duplication was always designed as a staged project to be delivered over several years.

"We appreciate these works have caused disruption and we thank the community for their patience," the spokesperson said.

By Pip Waller
 

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For those who lived in Bundaberg in the 2000s would remember the Airport Drive which connected Takalvan Street to the airport proper. It took years to construct a single lane road. I drove along that road nearly every day and witnessed thousands of tonnes of soil being moved from one place to another for months on end. I'm sure it was used as a training ground for budding earthmoving operators.
Nothing like on the job training.
 
We are still awaiting the completion of the bypass road through Coffs Harbour to complete the Pacific Highway upgrade. This has been many years coming because of the farms which are on the proposed bypass route.
 
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The road that goes through our street was smooth as, not a single bump or pot hole in sight, just perfect, until the local council brought in their road workers. For well over a week, bobcats everywhere, road workers at least 20 of them, more than half leaning against fences on their mobile phones, the others sitting on the ground with their coffees in hand, while three of the workers were actually doing something. Ever since they finished scrapping the road with their bobcats, and then leveling the tar, our road has continuously developed cracks and small pot holes, time and time again, calling for the road works people to fix the on going road faults. All the residence are fueming about the needless road works that were done in the first place, and that have now created never ending disruption to the road repairs, with on going pot holes and cracks in the road. 🙏🦋
The problem why potholes keep appearing in roads is that they don't repair them properly in the first place. When I lived in Lismore the road through Goonellabah was constantly being filled with potholes. They way they "repaired" them was that during the pouring rain they merely threw shovelfulls of grit into the holes and tarred over them. They should have left it until it stopped raining and then cut the holes further back to solid ground then filled them and tamped the filling down to make sure the holes were properly filled before putting tar on top to seal it.
 
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I did put in a complaint when the council added a turning and bike lane right outside our driveway. We live on a busy main road. When I said we have to slow down in the turning lane because of the way our driveway is and along 3 kilometres of road, ours was the only one that has a turning lane and bike lane out the front, the council said if there are cars behind us we should turn down the side road and circle back to our driveway. All good and well except you have to drive down the side road for 500 meters before there is a side street you can turn around to go back. Then we have to go out onto the main road so we can turn into our driveway. When we have the caravan on it's even scarier and we can't just turn around so we have to do an extra 2 kilometres before we can get back to our driveway. So we now put on our hazard lights to warn people behind us when we are turning
Dear member Iggydi, don't give up, you have rights. Jeroen Weimar is the Secretary of the Department of Transport and Planning who is an individual you can send an email to. You also have Hon Melissa Horne Minister for Roads and Road Safety. And there is MP Josh Bull, Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure Delivery. Try sending an email to each of these departments, clearly explaining the way the road is set out, and what kind of changes you are requesting. Also, specifically state why you are asking for this changes. The above post that you sent, explains a great deal regarding your issue, and I believe that one of these departments will take action in your favour, God bless, 🙏🦋
 
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The problem why potholes keep appearing in roads is that they don't repair them properly in the first place. When I lived in Lismore the road through Goonellabah was constantly being filled with potholes. They way they "repaired" them was that during the pouring rain they merely threw shovelfulls of grit into the holes and tarred over them. They should have left it until it stopped raining and then cut the holes further back to solid ground then filled them and tamped the filling down to make sure the holes were properly filled before putting tar on top to seal it.
Dear member Reet, you are absolutely right. These workers appear to be not doing their job properly so that they can keep coming back for more work. If one is employed as a road repair worker, surely they would be if the knowledge of what rain does during pot hole repairs. I think if the department, who trained these workers, were told of the way road workers are not fixing pot holes the correct way, perhaps they wouldn't give out permits, certificates or licence to work on roads so easily. Good Karma to you always, God bless, 🙏🦋
 
Reminds me of the story/joke told by a Welsh comedian (Max Boyce).
The foreman phones head office
"We forgot our shovels at the depot, what should we do ?"
Reply
"Just lean against each other until they arrive"
GrumpyOldMan
 
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