Up here in Nowra, we're still a long way from that point but progress is highly visible. However, it's not to everyone's liking. The trees that once hid the ugly mass of the council building have largely gone and they've come down on the other side of the highway too.

The entry into town has morphed into one giant construction site, never a pretty site but a sign of long overdue progress. And with any construction site comes traffic disruption and delay.

Drive into Nowra at peak times on any given day and it's a slow crawl. You can almost sense the frustration sizzling in the cars in front and those behind. But before succumbing to internal road rage, it's worth remembering: If you're stuck in traffic, you are traffic and therefore part of the problem.

In the good old days before last week, when we posted any story about the Nowra bridge or traffic, there would be stacks of people hollering for the long-awaited Nowra bypass to be built.

They seemed to be missing the point. Hardly any of the traffic at peak times is not local. Most of it is people getting to work, dropping kids at school, going into town to shop or make appointments.

If there was a bypass, the majority of cars at peak times would still be heading into Nowra or South Nowra and still be becalmed at the numerous sets of traffic lights, or queueing at roundabouts.

The Nowra bypass, when it is eventually constructed and that is years if not decades away, will alleviate the periods of intense holiday gridlock but it won't fix the daily road knots through Nowra.

There are ways to address the peak-time snarls. Flexible working hours is one. Better (well, any) public transport is another.

The shift to remote working through the pandemic showed many workers were just as capable of putting in a solid day's toil from home as they were from an office.

Even if it's for half the week, a shift to have employees work from home will ease congestion.

And getting on with the much talked about East Nowra Sub-Arterial Road will also ease pressure on the highway.

Over to you, Shoalhaven City Council. You can help ease our daily grind.