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Congestion on Gympie Road at Chermside could be eased if the plan for a tunnel goes ahead.Credit:Tony Moore

The state government’s foray into the area comes after it refused to participate in a federally funded study,commissioned by Brisbane City Council,because it could not take the lead.

That three-year study looked at road,rail and public transport options to realign movements on the northside,and also resolve the fate of the preserved North West Transport Corridor.

While the council study identified an overwhelming need for new connections,it lost the opportunity of further Commonwealth funds because it was deemed to have prematurely ruled out the unpopular option of surface-level construction on the corridor.

The new state government study will also avoid surface-level construction,instead examining similar tunnel alignments to those previously considered.

However,it appears that it will stop short of a full-scale public transport probe.

With the funding announced before Tuesday’s state budget,Treasurer Cameron Dick said the toll tunnel could be finished by the 2032 Olympic Games.

Dick said the study would run from 12 months from July to identify the framework for a detailed business case.

The proposed tunnel would run between a “northern portal” north of Beams Road at Carseldine and a “southern portal” connecting to the Airport Link tunnel at Kedron.

On ABC radio on Monday,the treasurer rejected suggestions from the RACQ the Queensland government was jumping into a road project without considering broader transport planning,including rail.

“We do this planning all the time through the Department of Transport and Main Roads.

“The RACQ will be part of this planning process. It makes sense dealing with them as part of that. They always have good insights and views.

“But it is a discrete project. It is logical and we need to crack on with a problem that has been decades in the making.”

Dick said the council-proposed tunnel was about one-third longer.

“It would have cost more,which would have meant higher tolls,with greater impact on residents and would not connect up with the roads that we need to connect.

“It would have ended up on Stafford Road and pushed more traffic into local roads there.”

The 12-month feasibility study and the following business case will identify how many homes might have to be resumed.

The study would require a new entity,North Brisbane Infrastructure,to be established through the Queensland Investment Corporation.

“Forecast population growth on the Sunshine Coast and in the Moreton Bay region will increase traffic into Brisbane,so now is the right time to do this work,” Dick said.

It comes ahead of council and state elections in 2024. In previous campaigns,residents have endured competing claims of secret plans to build a motorway along the corridor.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner welcomed the Palaszczuk government’s new-found support for a tunnel but said,“it’s frustrating this will be the subject of yet another study”.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey – who had engaged in a war of words with Schrinner over the council study – on Sunday praised his government for its “forward planning”.

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