Leave your car at home to beat the Clipsal 500 crawl

The Clipsal 500 commuter snarl will again go under the microscope today, as traffic experts monitor travel times and vehicle flows during what some believe is the worst congestion in 16 years of the V8 Supercar event.

The RAA will repeat a survey of a commuter run from the northeast suburbs to the city, after yesterday's test showed it took 37 minutes longer to drive than on Monday.

A road-death in the city at the morning peak compounded traffic problems yesterday, with the accident site on Currie St closed down.

That closure blocked traffic from heading west away from the already hectic streets in the east, where road closures around the Clipsal circuit caused detours and bottlenecks.

Buses on the eastern side of the city were running up to an hour late and some passengers gave up on public transport, opting to walk into the city from as far away as Kent Town.

RAA road safety senior manager Charles Mountain said the motoring body tested an 8.1km route from Adelaide's northeast into the city on Monday morning and found the journey took 58 minutes. It carried out the same survey - along Lower North East and Payneham roads - yesterday morning, with the travel time blowing out to 95 minutes. "But what we don't know was whether that was a direct result of what happened on Currie St," Mr Mountain said, referring to the accident that claimed the life of an 86-year-old Grange man. His three-wheeled mobility scooter was struck by a garbage truck at the intersection of Currie St and Topham mall about 7.30am.

Mr Mountain said the RAA would do the same survey again this morning and tomorrow morning to compare travel times.

The morning run into town from the eastern suburbs is a race that workday drivers just can't win

He said the intersection of Payneham, Magill and Fullarton roads was heavily congested during the peak yesterday, as three major roads funnelled into one. "On most days that intersection is perfectly adequate, but in conditions like these (race road closures), it struggles," he said.

Police Traffic Support Branch Inspector Brett Foster said the Currie St closure was necessary after the fatality.

Transfield Services, which runs Light City Buses, said 10 routes were affected with some buses running up to an hour late. Torrens Transit did not return calls to News Corp Australia.

Burst water mains at Windsor Gardens Stepney, also caused traffic delays.

Clipsal 500 commute times tested

Adelaide's V8 Supercar street race actually slows ordinary cars down, and drivers have plenty of time to contemplate that irony as they idle away peak hour on steets clogged by detoured traffic. A commuter test of Clipsal 500 road closures yesterday showed that the morning run into town from the eastern suburbs is a race that workday drivers just can't win.

News Corp Australia asked a driver, a cyclist and a walker to head off from the intersection of Osmond Tce and Kensington Rd at Norwod at 8am to see who could take the chequered flag at the city junction of Pulteney and Wakefield streets. Each could choose their own route. The winner may not surprise you, but the time differences are extraordinary.

CYCLIST - 10min, 20sec

Cycling is the quickest way to get into the city from Adelaide's inner east as Clipsal 500 road closures cause chaos for motorists.

Scientist Luke Grundy set off from the Osmond Tce and Kensington Rd intersection at 8am and took 10 minutes and 20 seconds to get to the finish line at the corner of Wakefield and Pulteney streets. He was able to cut through the middle of Victoria Park using the main cycling and walking trail that starts opposite the Fullarton Rd and Grant St intersection. But the path closed at midnight last night, forcing more cyclists on to busy roads through the Parklands, such as Rundle Rd, North Tce and Greenhill Rd.

Everyone was fired up - drivers were trying to get that extra inch on everyone else

Dr Grundy, of Rose Park, said his journey into the city became dangerous when he turned left from Kensington Rd on to Fullarton Rd, where traffic had been reduced to one lane each way. "I can't believe how dangerous Fullarton Rd is," he said.

"There is definitely not enough space for a car and a bike to get through side-by-side. Everyone was fired up - drivers were trying to get that extra inch on everyone else."

He said once he cut through Victoria Park, he rode along Halifax St until turning right on to Pulteney St. "That junction of Halifax and Pulteney St was chaos," he said.

Dr Grundy said motorists had to wait for several traffic light changes before they could get through an intersection, whereas he could ride through on the first change.

WALKER - 41 minutes

Nurse Christine Lillie is a "brisk walker", although normally she wouldn't expect to outpace a car in a race into town, let alone two of them.

Choosing a 3.5km route to the city finish line, she beat the car driver in our test by a minute and a friend driving a different route by almost 10 minutes.

It took her 50 minutes to drive through Norwood and into the city

Ms Lillie had arranged for a friend to drop her at start line at the intersection of Osmond Tce and Kensington Rd, in Norwood, just before 8am.

Her friend was then asked to drive to the finish line - at the corner of Wakefield and Pulteney streets - to pick Ms Lillie up after her walk.

"But I was there before she was. It took her 50 minutes to drive through Norwood and into the city," Ms Lillie said.

"She couldn't really get anywhere near me so I walked towards Frome St so she could pick me up."

Ms Lillie, of Glenside, took a similar route to that of test cyclist Luke Grundy, cutting through the trail at Victoria Park to get on to Halifax St, but that parkland track has now been closed for the Clipsal 500. She turned right on to Hutt St, before hitting Wakefield St and heading west towards the finish line.

"I'm quite a brisk walker. It was a nice walk," she said.

Ms Lillie had to take a small detour, blowing her travel route out to 3.6km to get around the road closure at Wakefield St, between East Tce and the Britannia roundabout.

DRIVER - 42min, 20sec

Driver Jamie Pellowe was showing signs of frustration as his car crept along Adelaide's roads from the inner east to the city at an average speed of 7km/h.

He wasn't alone. In fact, so many drivers were experiencing the same situation that he felt like he was drivng in a much bigger, busier city.

He was almost sideswiped by another car when forced to merge with traffic

"It's just like driving around Sydney," the Rose Park man, 26, said. A flying instructor by trade, he was gliding along nicely on Kensington Rd before turning right on to Charles St to avoid the Fullarton Rd intersection.

But once he hit The Parade, his speed slowed significantly - and things got a little frightening.

He was almost sideswiped by another car when forced to merge with traffic at the busy intersection of The Parade, Flinders St and Fullarton Rd, which was closed.

Mr Pellowe took more than 40 minutes to crawl the 5km journey, which would have been half the distance without the Clipsal road closures.

While cyclist Luke Grundy and walker Christine Lillie were able to cut through the middle of Victoria Park into the East End of the city, Mr Pellowe was forced to use a heavily congested Rundle Rd to get through the Parklands and into the CBD. Then he waited for two traffic light changes to get on to Grenfell St from East Tce.He used Frome St to head south, but had not been expecting all right turns to be blocked along that stretch of road.