This year the town was officially bypassed as part of the second stage of the Princes Highway upgrade.

No more will traffic heading south for the summer holidays crawl through the main street of Berry.

Chamber president Anthony Houghton, who runs Mt Hay Retreat north of the town, said there has been a definite improvement when it comes to traffic this year.

“My impression is the traffic chaos is much less,” Mr Houghton said.

“If you’ve ever experienced a Christmas or Easter coming through Berry, it used to be absolute carnage.”

But this didn’t mean it’s now a ghost town – people are still choosing to take the off-ramp to Berry.

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“It seems the number of people coming here to go shopping or to have lunch and whatnot is very much the same as last year,” he said.

It was still early days, he said, adding the full effect of the bypass will be felt during winter, which was the quiet period for the town.

What might help is the government’s bypassed towns signage trial, which will see signage with colour images erected along the Princes Highway highlighting the assets of Berry.

The South Coast town is one of three in the trial and will have its signage in place early next year.

Mr Houghton said it would be of benefit to the town.

“I think any signage that encourages people to turn off the highway to go shopping, have lunch or buy a coffee can only be a good thing,” he said.