Budget green light for Gympie Road bypass tunnel to move to next stage

The Miles government has decided there is merit in a new Brisbane tunnel that could save motorists 32 minutes by avoiding 19 sets of traffic lights on a return trip between Kedron and Carseldine.

But with the proposed Gympie Road Bypass Tunnel likely to cost more than $7 billion to build, it will be up to a future government to decide whether to proceed. Labor believes construction could start as early as 2027.

In Tuesday’s state budget, Treasurer Cameron Dick will set aside $318 million over three years for design work on twin tunnels intended to help motorists avoid congestion around Chermside.

Traffic on Gympie Road could increase from 80,000 vehicles per day to 110,000 each day, prompting calls for a tunnel from Kedron to Carseldine.Credit: Tony Moore

The work will be done by government entity North Brisbane Infrastructure, which was given $35 million to progress the idea first put forward by Queensland Investment Corporation.

Preliminary research by NBI has the support of Queensland Treasury. It estimates 40,000 vehicles would use the toll tunnel every day and there is a “strong rationale” for such a project in a growing city like Brisbane.

Dick said there was a “compelling case” for a new tunnel, and community consultation had found it would be supported.

“Given the population growth on Brisbane’s northside and the Sunshine Coast, congestion along Gympie Road needs to be fixed,” Dick said on Monday.

“The work undertaken [by NBI] over the past year provides a compelling case for future investment.”

“We are doing this in a sensible and measured way that means we can ensure we have all of the required approvals and pre-construction work undertaken before a report back to government in 2027-28.”

Initial estimates last year put the construction cost at more than $7 billion, but the government is banking on an economic uplift of $8 billion and some 1800 jobs.

With a state election in October, it will be up to the next government – whether Labor or otherwise – to decide whether to proceed and how to deliver the project.

Brisbane’s Liberal National Party council backs the project, and tolling giant Transurban has expressed interest in operating the tunnel.

NBI will now investigate where the southern and northern entrances – called tunnel portals – should be placed. It has yet to release its previous work.

The southern entrance at Kedron will most likely branch from the Airport Link tunnel and the northern entrance will be near the Gateway Arterial Road, north of Beams Road.

Transport Minister Bart Mellish said traffic on Gympie Road was projected to increase from 80,000 vehicles a day to 111,000 a day by 2046.

“The traffic projections show that without intervention what is already one of our busiest and most congested roads will continue to get worse over the next two decades and that is not acceptable,” Mellish said.

The budget sets aside another $17 million for a business case to consider above-ground active and public transport improvements along the corridor. That work will be done by the Department of Transport and Main Roads.