Coomera Connector

The Coomera Connector, formerly known as the Intra Regional Transport Corridor, is a proposed 45-kilometre (28 mi)[1] motorway that will connect Logan City with the Gold Coast in South East Queensland, Australia. It will run parallel to the M1 Pacific Motorway for its entire length and will run adjacent to the Gold Coast railway line south of Coomera.

Coomera Connector

Queensland
General information
TypeMotorway  (Proposed)
Length45 km (28 mi)[1]
OpenedLate 2024 (Stage 1, estimated)
Major junctions
Stage 1 (Nerang – Coomera)
(16 km)
south end Nerang–Broadbeach Road
Nerang, Queensland
 
north endShipper Drive
Coomera, Queensland
Future (Coomera – Loganholme)
(29 km)
south endShipper Drive
Coomera, Queensland
north end Pacific Motorway
Logan Motorway
Loganholme, Queensland
Location(s)
Major suburbs / towns
Highway system

The 16-kilometre (9.9 mi) Stage 1 of the motorway between Nerang and Coomera will commence construction in 2022 and will be completed in late 2024.[2] The rest of the motorway is currently under planning as of September 2021. As of July 2022 the business case for future stages is due for completion by the end of 2023.[3]

Design

The Coomera Connector is broken up into northern (between Loganholme and Coomera) and southern (between Coomera and Nerang) sections. The southern section, known as Stage 1, is 16 km (9.9 mi) long and is further broken up into three sub-sections, to be delivered separately:[1]

  • Stage 1 North: between Shipper Drive at Coomera and Helensvale Road at Helensvale
  • Stage 1 Central: between Helensvale Road and Smith Street Motorway at Molendinar
  • Stage 1 South: between Smith Street Motorway and Nerang-Broadbeach Road at Nerang

The motorway is wide enough for six lanes. However, fewer lanes may be built in some sections in the medium-term, depending on transport demand modelling and available construction funding.[2]

The Hope Island railway station of the Gold Coast railway line, which is adjacent to the Coomera Connector, will also be constructed in conjunction with Stage 1.[2]

History

Planning

Since the 1990s, the Coomera Connector corridor has been identified in various public planning documents and Gold Coast planning schemes. A joint 2015 study between the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and City of Gold Coast confirmed the corridor as a future strategic transport link that will relieve traffic congestion on the M1 Pacific Motorway. The Coomera Connector was also formally declared a future state-controlled road.

The Stage 1 corridor was gazetted in 2016, while the rest of the corridor (northern section) was gazetted between 2017 and 2019.[1]

The preferred route of the northern section was confirmed in April 2021.[4] Residents along the alignment of the northern section had expressed concerns that there was uncertainty of the timeline on when their properties would be acquired and demolished.[5] Eagleby residents were also concerned with the impact of the northern section on the Eagleby Wetlands, a flood plain home to birds and reptiles.[6]

Initial community consultation on the Coomera Connector was undertaken in late 2019, with subsequent community consultation of Stage 1 undertaken between 2020 and 2021.[1]

Construction

Early works construction with site investigations were undertaken for Stage 1 in 2021.[2] Main construction will begin in mid-2022.

Funding

The federal and state governments have committed a total of A$1.53 billion on a 50:50 basis to plan and construct Stage 1 of the Coomera Connector.[2] In September 2021, it was reported by media that Stage 1 had a cost blowout of 40% or A$632 million, and the total cost of Stage 1 is A$2.1 billion. The Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey defended the rising cost to have been caused by "an infrastructure boom".[7]

The state government has also committed A$11 million to continue planning for future stages of the Coomera Connector.[8]

References
  1. "Coomera Connector". Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  2. "Coomera Connector (Stage 1)". Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
  3. "Coomera Connector (Future stages)". Queensland Government. 15 July 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
  4. "Preferred northern route for Coomera Connector confirmed". Queensland Government. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  5. "Residents in path of planned Coomera Connector say they have been 'left in the dark'". ABC News. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  6. "Coomera Connector route puts the Eagleby Wetlands under threat, residents say". ABC News. 2 May 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  7. "$632m Coomera Connector blowout should prompt rethink of planning priorities: economist". ABC News. 24 September 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  8. "Coomera Connector (Future stages)". Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
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