School's back, which means Gungahlin's traffic is back to bumper to bumper standstills on some of the more notorious drives, so the The Canberra Times decided to give the controversial nine-light roundabout a test in normal conditions.
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The complicated new set of traffic lights has drivers stop in the middle of the roundabout at the intersection of the Barton Highway, Gundaroo Drive and William Slim Drive.
In December, Canberra Times senior producer and Gungahlin local Kyle Mackey-Laws gave the setup a crack and ruled it worked fine in sparse traffic but he still believed a flyover would be a better idea.
So what's changed? Traffic was heavy as Mackey-Laws took his usual route south down the Barton Highway, having to stop three times to turn right onto William Slim Drive.
"You have to navigate it slowly and cautiously, like you would any intersection I guess," Mackey-Laws said.
"I guess it's a roundabout, but, it's not."
He then doubled back up William Slim Drive to give it another go in still surprisingly easy traffic, but had to stop twice to turn right back onto the Barton Highway.
While it seemed to shave nearly 10 minutes off the 15-minute navigation of the notorious roundabout, he wondered as Gungahlin continued to grow if the intersection could keep up.
"I'm not going to eat my hat yet but it seems to be working," Mackey Laws said.
"I can understand why some people are a little bit confused."
"How long it works for I'm not sure, I wonder if it's a little short sighted still."
