“Development via QIC will facilitate the infrastructure being structured as a commercial investment,including by using revenue from tolls to help finance the construction and operating costs,mitigating the direct cost to the broader community,” Dick was advised.
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How we got here
Before the government got involved,Brisbane City Council set out to investigate what to do with the North West Transport Corridor,which was first marked out in the 1960s and then set aside in the 1980s for a possible future road.
The corridor between Stafford and Carseldine has been the subject of speculation and political debate for decades. The government had previously examined whether it could host a “multi-modal rail,road and active transport corridor” as part of broader works,but nothing eventuated.
The council prepared its own report for Infrastructure Australia in August 2022. But instead of coming up with possible uses for the corridor,which council had declared too narrow and environmentally sensitive to develop,the report focused on addressing the area’s underlying problems of traffic congestion and poor public transport connections.
Traffic in the CBD,the area with the best public transport services in Brisbane.Credit:Dan Peled
In March,council used the report to floatthe idea of road tunnels anda rail line in Brisbane’s north-west.
However,Infrastructure Australia wascritical of the process and the Queensland government,which had never been involved,refused to back the ideas. The future of the corridor was left unresolved.
Parliamentary briefing notes prepared for the treasurer raise the possible question of “why would this option be any better/different” than what council had worked on and suggest Dick reply:“the Gympie Road Bypass is a shorter distance and therefore more likely a lower cost,has fewer impacts and delivers an asset to meet growing needs now”.
Why it matters
Congestion is building in south-east Queensland as people settle in areas withlittle access to public transport and jobs and services remain centred on the inner-city.
The documents confirm “parts of Gympie Road are already operating at capacity with traffic volumes of more than 150,000 vehicles per day”.
While the Gateway Motorway skirts the city to the east,there is no western equivalent and planners expectsignificant population growth north and north-west of Brisbane. The existing Airport Link road tunnel,which connects to the Clem7 and Legacy Way tunnels,goes no further north than Kedron,meaning through-traffic adds to local traffic,including around the busy Westfield Chermside shopping centre.
How we know
After a public debate between the council and government over thefuture of the North West Transport Corridor,and the area’s road and public transport infrastructure needs,Dick announced the QIC plan two days ahead of the state budget.
The budget contained little additional information,soBrisbane Times used the Right to Information Act to obtain the background documents,albeit with important sections still redacted.
QIC declined to answer further questions on Tuesday.
What happens next
The government expects QIC to deliver a detailed investment proposal by mid-2024 for consideration in the next state budget. It will likely seek support from the council and federal government,and has not ruled out involving the private sector.
Transurban,the tolling company that operates other Brisbane tunnels and is considered likely to work with the government on any Gympie Road Bypass,is due to release its full-year financial results on Wednesday.
Ahead of the release,Transurban conducted a survey that found more people in Brisbane were concerned about congestion (67 per cent) than people in Sydney (65 per cent) and Melbourne (62 per cent).
“High population growth is continuing to put pressure on south-east Queensland’s road infrastructure,causing increased congestion across the road network,” a spokeswoman said,predicting congestion would increase by 23 per cent over the next decade.
The political debate around these issues will only intensify,with the Brisbane City Council election to be held in March and the state election in October.
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