Gold Coast gridlock: A clear and convincing plan is needed – and fast

Whether roads, rail or buses, amid stultifying gridlock on the Gold Coast the residents of this city desperately need to know what’s next, writes Keith Woods.

Tuesday was a throwback on the Gold Coast. A throwback to early December, to be precise.

It may have been a mere six weeks ago, but oh how this columnist had forgotten what things were like last year.

The reminder on Tuesday was swift and brutal. After six weeks of what counts as easy traffic on the Gold Coast, the gridlock was back with a vengeance.

Green lights along the Gold Coast Highway in Southport lost much of their meaning, with only a handful of cars slowly rolling through each time before the great column of traffic was once again forced to stop. And that was at 9.30am.

Matters were little better in the suburbs of course, as our youngest citizens — in a state of nervous excitement, or in the case of some high-school students, weary resignation – made their way to state schools for the first day of term.

Mixed in were many adults who were returning to work after taking leave on the last week or two of the school summer holidays to spend time with the kids.

On Tuesday, this was a city that was alive and busy. But going places? Not really.

A graphic showing how the light rail will look at Burleigh Heads. Picture: Supplied.

This is the context in which Gold Coast transport infrastructure has mysteriously disappeared from the Infrastructure Australia Priority List.

Light rail stage four to the airport and the border, and future stages of the Coomera Connector no longer feature.

Granted, the list is advisory, from a group independent of government – it is to help guide Federal politicians. What it represents is far from a done deal.

But if one pardons the pun, the direction of traffic looks increasingly clear. Amid inflation and ballooning deficits, infrastructure spending is under threat.

No wonder Gold Coast leaders are alarmed, including Mayor Tom Tate, who has long championed the light-rail extension, and Gold Coast Central Chamber of Commerce president Laura Younger.

“We absolutely hope it would be maintained as a priority. It would be crazy to stop it at Burleigh. It doesn’t make sense,” Ms Younger told this masthead.

She makes an excellent point. Already dealing with its own extreme traffic and parking problems, Burleigh would seem ill equipped to be the long-term end of the line.

Work on Stage 1 North of the Coomera Connector pictured at Monterey Keys in July 2024. Picture: TMR

And yet, we know that politicians are grappling with the fact that a state government report warned last year that the cost of the light-rail extension to the airport could be many billions, which by some reckoning would make it one of the most expensive rail projects ever built. A real problem when infrastructure spending in general is under threat.

The new LNP state government promised before the election to undertake a review of those stage four plans, with “all modes and routes” up for discussion.

Given the difficult budgetary decisions they are facing, and the inflated projected costs of the project, it is perfectly reasonable that they conduct such a review.

Budgetary constraints may mean there are changes, but it must be convincingly demonstrated that any new plan for stage four – electric buses are now being seriously discussed as an option – will ease the Gold Coast’s traffic woes, as well as easing the burden on the taxpayer.

As Premier David Crisafulli acknowledged to this column last July, doing nothing is not an option.

“This city deserves infrastructure and this city will get infrastructure. It will also get consulted and treated with respect,” he said.

Premier David Crisafulli in Southport earlier this month. Picture: Department of Premier and Cabinet.

The idea of any delay to future stages of the Coomera Connector is also alarming.

Encouragingly, this is something Mr Crisafulli – himself a northern Gold Coast MP – seems to understand keenly.

Discussing the matter on January 9, he spoke not only about pressing ahead with the road, but doing it better.

“Connectivity for the Coast is really important. Equally important (as light rail stage four) is sorting out what is currently being called the Coomera Connector, but it needs to become more than just a domestic road, we need a long-term vision for that.

“We need to sort out some of the exits in the northern part of the city. We need to make sure that we can get people from the airport to some of the Games venues, and indeed to the capital.

“So there’s lots to do, but I’m very confident.”

These are encouraging words from a Premier who has hit the ground running.

Because the Gold Coast needs answers, and soon. As we saw on Tuesday, it may take a Christmas break, but the gridlock gripping this city is not going away.

Follow @keithjwoods

Originally published as Gold Coast gridlock: A clear and convincing plan is needed – and fast