BORDER MAYHEM: Huge traffic jams as people flock to QLD

THE Queensland border bubble was officially extended at 1am and traffic is at a stand still.

Traffic banked up at the QLD border on Wharf St, Tweed Heads.

IT'S 11 hours since the QLD border bubble officially extended and traffic is at a stand still for many kilometres at the main Coolangatta checkpoint on Griffith St.

Crossing the border, what you need to know

A mix of families, locals, workers and tourists, who now have the freedom to travel, are sitting in snaking lines of traffic down Wharf St to the Boyd St intersection in Tweed Heads.

 

Traffic banked up at the QLD border on Wharf St, Tweed Heads.

 

The M1 is not moving at any quicker pace with 2km of traffic backed up.

QLD Police issued a reminder that travel across the border is only permitted for Queenslanders and those living within the "border bubble" in Northern NSW.

From 1am, Thursday, October 1, the defined New South Wales border zone was extended to include further New South Wales Local Government Areas (LGAs).

Border traffic Mayhem Oct 1

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The remainder of New South Wales and the state of Victoria remain declared COVID-19 hot spots and are closed to people travelling via road, unless an exception applies, or the individual has been granted an exemption by the Chief Health Officer (CHO).

Traffic banked up at the QLD border on Wharf St, Tweed Heads.

Queensland residents intending on travelling within the New South Wales border zone and re-entering Queensland, will need to apply for the updated 'X' pass, also known as 'Border Zone Resident Declaration Pass'.

The eased border restrictions also include, New South Wales border zone residents who have not travelled to a declared COVID-19 hotspot in the last 14 days, to travel anywhere in Queensland for any purpose.

Providing false information on the declaration or entering Queensland unlawfully could result in a $4003 fine or a notice to appear in court.