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Long weekend motorists to be struck by unprecedented freeway closures for work on Perth’s Hay Street Bridge, a truck crash hotspot

Rob Scott7NEWS
VideoHay Street Bridge to close for next round of works on troublesome bridge, which has been hit by tall loads too many times. 64 hour closure longest in Perth history.

Perth drivers will endure an unprecedented freeway shutdown this long weekend with all southbound lanes closed through the city until Monday afternoon while repair work is carried out on the troublesome Hay Street bridge.

Built in 1968, the bridge is the lowest on Perth’s freeway network and has been stuck by trucks with over-height loads and other large vehicles 12 times in the past five years.

A $7 million Main Roads project to cut out an underbelly section of the lower deck is expected to fix the problem but will mean motorists will have to find another way around the city when driving south until 2pm on Monday.

Four large sections of the bridge and the guard rail have already been cut away.

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And from 10pm tonightt the southbound lanes of Mitchell Freeway from the Graham Farmer Freeway exit to Riverside Drive will be closed.

Main Roads WA director of metropolitan operations Peter Sewell said it was the longest period part of a Perth freeway has ever been shut down for.

It is expected there will be another freeway closure in September for the project to be completed.

“It’s the whole underbelly itself, it’s a box, they call it a box, it’s hollow boxes and they’ll come out,” Mr Sewell said. “If you get caught ... (you will) have to go Graham Farmer Freeway, Great Eastern Highway, Canning Highway and back on the on ramp south of Canning Bridge.”

The easing of regional border restrictions, combined with the annual pilgrimage south for the long weekend, means traffic is expected to be heavy at either end of the weekend. Main Roads says leave early to avoid delays.

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