As of 2015, the major arterial accommodated just 18,700 cars and trucks, indicating a near threefold increase in 15 years. 

Booming residential development in Estella and Boorooma is threatening to send the thoroughfare into gridlock daily traffic. 

Committee 4 Wagga (C4W) CEO Chris Fitzpatrick has reignited calls to fast-track the duplication of the Gobba Bridge in wake of the concerning figures. 

“One two-lane bridge is not going to do and it’s not going to support our city’s growth,” he said. 

“We need to be a whole lot more strategic and intellectual about planning this bridge. 

“During the course of our studies, there were so many differing facts and figures and almost mischievous information that I think was designed simply to pour cold water on this bridge duplication.”

It was the most referenced project among the odd 90 submissions to Wagga City Council’s Integrated Transport Strategy (ITS).

Estella resident Greg Corbyn, who used to live in Sydney, is beginning to compare crossing the bridge to his metropolitan morning commute.

“For a good five minutes or so, it really is like being back in Randwick,” he said. 

“On the whole, traffic isn’t an issue at all – except at the Gobba Bridge.

“The more people warm up to the northern suburbs, the worse this is going to become.”