Lord Mayor reveals plan to transform Adelaide Street

A new vision for Brisbane's Adelaide Street will see the street turned into a "gateway" into the city centre, with a new walkable boulevard and pocket park, and a tunnel for Brisbane Metro.

The primary city street will see significant change when the Brisbane Metro tunnel connecting North Quay to the King George Square Bus Station is built, with Brisbane City Council planning a complete overhaul of Adelaide Street to coincide with the major project.

The Brisbane Metro project will see a 200-metre bus tunnel constructed under Adelaide Street.

Lord mayor Adrian Schrinner released the draft Adelaide Street vision for community consultation on Tuesday morning.

"As part of this, the King George Square Station will be a new front door for many commuters coming into the city, [and] we're going to make sure that is a world-class arrival experience in Adelaide Street and a much more pleasant environment, a safer environment, for pedestrians as well."

Cr Schrinner said when Brisbane Metro was completed, there would be 50 fewer buses in peak hour on Adelaide Street as they would go underground alongside the Metro vehicles.

He said a priority for the council was also to "declutter" Adelaide Street by removing and streamlining the numerous bus stops along the road.

Visitation to Brisbane is predicted to increase by 30 per cent next year, primarily from domestic tourism visitors, with international visitors also contributing.

Cr Schrinner said the goal was for Adelaide Street to become a world-class entry to the city with a focus on pedestrian safety and amenity.

Plans for the construction and development of the street are still being considered, he said, and this  could include closing the street on one side at a time for months.

He said the council was trying to limit the impact on street users as the tunnel construction begins next year.

The council is still waiting for the state government to sign off on final approvals before construction on the $944 million Brisbane Metro can begin.

The latest design image for Brisbane Metro.Credit: Brisbane City Council

"Just in recent days we had a really constructive meeting with the state government talking about the way forward," Cr Schrinner said.

"Council has done everything that it needs to do to get this project up and running; it's fully funded, we are now waiting on two things to happen.

"Firstly, state government approvals, and secondly the tender process which is now under way to come to a conclusion.

"We need to start making decisions from the middle of the year on the tender process ... we can get cracking on this project later this year."

He said the meetings with the state government revolved around the Cultural Centre precinct and the designs currently under tender.

Brisbane residents can provide feedback on the draft Adelaide Street vision until June 24, after which the council will begin working on the "ultimate" vision coinciding with Brisbane Metro's construction timeline.