A Department of State Growth spokeswomen said they were working with the council to better understand traffic management issues by analysing the origin and destination of vehicles in order to develop a Launceston Traffic Model.

“The Launceston study is due to be completed by the end of 2017 and will then be considered by the Department to inform future network planning,” the spokeswoman said.

City of Launceston acting general manager Michael Tidey said the council had asked the department to examine traffic light sequencing in Kings Meadows, and to repair some traffic signal equipment faults which were contributing to delays during peak periods.

“Kings Meadows is a link between southern areas of the municipality and the CBD, and while many motorists choose to take the Southern Outlet to avoid travelling through the retail district in peak periods, others prefer not to,” he said.

“The causes of traffic congestion are complex, and are not attributable to a single source. They're related to where we live, what habits we're accustomed to, where we work, what we buy, how we spend recreational time, even our family dynamics.”

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Mr Tidey said one contributing factor was the amount of cars on the road with 74,898 registered vehicles for a population of 67,000 people within the Launceston municipality.

“Statewide there are 590,506 registered vehicles, up from 481,627 registered vehicles a decade ago, and 399,894 in 1996,” he said.

The Examiner asked if any of the traffic build up was related to infrastructure issues on the portion of Hobart Road between Innocent Street and Opossum Road.

Mr Tidey said the question appeared “to not-so-subtly hint at the pedestrian crossing between Innocent Street and Opposum Road being a cause of traffic congestion”.

“Traffic congestion is a much broader and complex problem, with many more causes than minor road infrastructure changes,” he said.

“Suburbs like Kings Meadows are increasingly popular real estate choices for residents, not only for their location, characteristics and access to facilities, but also for the retail offerings they have in their own right.

“Occasionally, as our city and suburbs grow, we have choices to make about whether we cater for increased pedestrianisation through the provision of basic safety infrastructure like pedestrian crossings, or whether we prioritise movement of other road users.”

Meanwhile the safety upgrades at the intersection of Hobart and Oppossum Road has resulted in zero crashes resulting in injury since the start of 2017.

“The works at Hobart Road/Opossum Road were carried out to address a poor crash record at this intersection,” Mr Tidey said.

“Before implementation, there was a regular 'crash resulting in injury' issue, involving vehicles turning right from Hobart Road into Opossum Road.”