Lord Mayor Campbell Newman today defended his traffic congestion strategy as patronage of the Clem7 tunnel dropped by more than 50 percent.

Clem7 operator RiverCity Motorway Group today released figures showing average daily traffic fell from around 51,000 trips per day to just 21,178 after the tunnel’s toll-free period ended.

The numbers are well below the 60,000 trips a day the company had forecast for the tolled period, despite the company’s still providing a 30 percent discount on all tolls.

Cr Newman told today’s council meeting that while Clem7 was not as popular with motorists as he had expected, the tunnel had been successful in reducing travel time on major metropolitan streets, with travel time on some roads down by up to 30 percent.

“It is certainly achieving its traffic congestion reduction targets,” he said.

In spite of the Clem7 figures, the Lord Mayor said he would push ahead with plans for a toll on any upgrade to Kingsford Smith Drive.

“It will need to be tolled,” he said.

He said tolls were necessary on council infrastructure due to the lack of funding from the State Government.

“We have to deal with these things in our own way, either through rates or tolls, and I prefer tolls,” he said.

The RiverCity Motorway Group announced today it will extend the discount on the Clem7 toll until June 30.