Road upgrades to the entrance of The Mill at Moreton Bay to begin in the new year
Trees at Wyllie park will be cut down to allow road upgrades at the entrance of The Mill at Moreton Bay at Petrie
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TREES at Wyllie park will be cut down to allow road upgrades at the entrance of The Mill at Moreton Bay at Petrie to get under way in the new year.
The council determined at its October 16 meeting to award a $7.7 million tender to AllRoads Pty Ltd to upgrade the intersection at Gympie Rd and Paper Ave.
The upgrade, expected to take about 12 months to complete, includes widening a section of Gympie Road, creating a new entrance for The Mill at the intersection of Gympie Road and Paper Avenue (opposite Wyllie Park rest area), as well as upgrading the entry to Wyllie Park.
“As part of these works, a number of trees need to be removed from Wyllie Park to allow for the widening of the road and additional turning lanes,” a council spokesman said.
“Council has committed to a replanting program which will see nearly double the number of trees planted in Wyllie Park with an emphasis on native species.”
The spokesman said the council was also looking at initiatives like fauna fencing to reduce the risk of koalas and other fauna attempting to cross the road, as well as a wildlife underpass and rope bridge overpass.
Work on the upgrade is expected to start early next year, despite a traffic study done as part of the USC Moreton Bay application that stated no intersection upgrade was needed as a result of Stage 1 of the university — ie for about 10 years.
Mayor Allan Sutherland said at the time of the tender being awarded that the council opted to go ahead with the upgrade early because it didn’t want to constantly interrupt traffic as the Mill development grew in future years.
However, it is understood the council decided to go ahead with the upgrade before the university’s opening because its traffic study was heavily criticised by the State Government.
“The submitted traffic report does not provide sufficient justification that the Gympie Rd/Paper Ave intersection does not require upgrading to support the Foundation Facility,” a letter addressed to the council from the Department of Planning stated.
Construction of the USC Moreton Bay foundation building is well on the way with the university to be the centrepiece of the broader Mill at Moreton Bay development.
USC on Tuesday threw an informal “slab party” breakfast for construction workers and others working on the project.
As well as progress towards a total of 11 ground floor pours, work is underway on columns, water tanks, sewerage, and scaffolding to support commencement of formwork for Level 1.
The foundation building will have 16,000 square metres of floor space and include a lecture theatre, multipurpose rooms, and a large open auditorium suitable for community events.
USC said it expected up to 1200 in its first year of operation, in 2020.
Students will have a choice of almost 50 study programs including business, education and computer science.
Funding for the USC Moreton Bay building was secured last year through a $121million loan from the Federal Government.
The campus is expected to have 10,000 students by 2030.
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