West Australian Transport Minister Dean Nalder says ongoing works around Perth are contributing to worsening congestion, but denies the city is in a traffic-jam crisis.
A Committee of Perth report released on Monday found longer commutes were affecting drivers' hip pockets and wellbeing, with lengthy travel times linked to serious long-term health and social problems.
Mr Nalder said CBD projects including the Perth City Link and Elizabeth Quay and Gateway WA in the south-eastern suburbs were causing congestion but would help ease traffic flow in the future.
"The city is transforming - that poses challenges for the government and for the community of WA," Mr Nalder said.
"I believe part of the congestion we have is because of the amount of work we are undertaking at this point in time.
"There's no question with over 1000 people a week shifting into Perth, we have additional traffic and therefore the traffic flow does become a situation, but we are spending close to $5 billion on projects currently to alleviate a lot of that concern."
Committee chief executive Marion Fulker said the solution to Perth's traffic-related health problems wasn't just building more roads.
"If you live more than an hour away from work, you're spending 19 days travelling to work each year, so it's bound to have an adverse impact on your health," Mrs Fulker said.
"It's well known that when people get stressed it increases their risk of suffering from anxiety and depression, heart disease, sleep problems and leads to days off work."
WA opposition leader Mark McGowan said Mr Nalder must be in denial if he didn't think Perth's congestion was at crisis point.
In 2013, Perth tied with Melbourne as Australia's second most congested city, according to a traffic index report by car navigation company TomTom. WA drivers experienced a 31 minute delay for every one hour spent travelling during peak periods.
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