As with the last two runs - in April 2021, and again in November - we set out at 8.30am from the corner of Dyson Drive and Carngham Road, and from Delacombe Town Centre, all taking different routes to get to Town Hall amid the school run.

We chose the morning because, as a generalisation, a lot of people need to be dropping kids off at school before 9am, and might need to be in the CBD for work or an appointment at 9am.

READ OUR TEST RUNS FROM APRIL AND NOVEMBER

Heading back the other way, while anecdotally much busier, is harder to get a handle on, as everyone's leaving at different times.

We also chose the southwestern suburbs because of their rapid growth and because it's the focus of the state government's $60 million Keeping Ballarat Moving project, upgrading several busy intersections.

There's definitely congestion elsewhere - have a look at Learmonth Road after school, or Geelong Road in Mount Clear - but we felt this was a good, non-scientific way to judge how traffic patterns are changing.

This time we had six drivers, who all left at the same time.

From DTC, one driver went north along Wiltshire Lane and Learmonth Street, turning right at the roundabout on Sturt Street.

Another driver turned right onto the Glenelg Highway, following it to Sebastopol and turning left at Albert Street, then turning right at Doveton Streeet.

From Dyson Drive, one driver went north all the way to Lucas, turning right at Remembrance Drive, while the other turned right at Cuthberts Road and left at Learmonth Street, then right onto Sturt Street at the Arch roundabout.

On Carngham Road, one driver went straight to Skipton Street, turning left then right at Doveton Street, and the other turned left at Learmonth Street then right onto Sturt Street.

A year ago, in April, we only did four routes - from DTC along Wiltshire Lane, it took 18 minutes and 20 seconds; from Carngham Road along Wiltshire Lane, it took 19 minutes flat.

On Dyson Drive, it took just on 21 minutes on the Remembrance Drive route, and 22:38 on the Cuthberts Road route.

When we did it again in November, a lot more roadworks had begun, and we added a pair of extra routes to include Sebastopol and a control route down Latrobe Street.

From DTC along Wiltshire Lane, it took 26:30 to get to Town Hall, while DTC via Albert Street took 18:40.

On Carngham Road and Wiltshire Lane, it took 20:59, and our control driver, who took Latrobe Street, made it in 19:15.

For Dyson Drive, it took a bit longer to get through Cuthberts Road, at just over 24 minutes, while heading straight to Remembrance Drive took slightly less time, at 20 minutes, about a minute less than April.

From DTC along Wiltshire Lane, our reporter is happy to state it was much quicker this time around, getting to Town Hall in 17 minutes.

DTC via Albert Street took 18:56, a bit longer than November.

Our reporters noted Highway Patrol was active on Carngham Road on the morning of our test, which may have affected our times - Carngham Road and Wiltshire Lane took a whopping 24:05, while Carngham Road and Skipton Street took 20 minutes flat.

Our drivers ran into unexpected roadworks and a diversion on Dyson Drive, taking 20:15 via Remembrance Drive and 22:53 via Cuthberts Road.

It might not look like it, but there has been a lot of work happening in the major Keeping Ballarat Moving intersections - it's clear things have progressed to the east-west side of Latrobe Street and Learmonth Street, for example.

Roadworks have also begun in Sebastopol, though the controversial closure of Hertford Street was done by the time of our test.

It's worth noting the roadworks on Dyson Drive - the spot where our drivers usually meet is now a construction site, and there are far more houses than there were six months ago.

In short, now that we've got a year's worth of results - again, this isn't scientific - we can see almost all of our routes are taking slightly more time.

Combine that with more cars on the road, as schools are now fully back in-person and more people are returning to offices, and the fact that all these new houses are being built, and things will likely get worse before they get better.

When we do our next run, in six month's time, more of the intersection works should be done, or at least almost finished, so we might be able to see how they'll improve traffic flow.

We'll be back on the road to do it all again in November, marking two years of the project.

What's concerning was the amount of traffic building up on Sutton Street, at both Latrobe Street and Hertford Street - perhaps a Keeping Ballarat Moving mark two is required by the next state election?

- with Adam Spencer, Michelle Smith, Pat Nolan, Malvika Hemanth, and Nieve Walton

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