Helensvale transport headache could cost millions after trams used new highway route

The State Government built the second stage of light rail to Helensvale in record time for the Commonwealth Games — but it’s come at a cost.

Gold Coast light rail at the Helensvale station. Picture: Jerad Williams

THE State Government could face a cost blowout to build the Coomera Connector as an alternative to the M1 because it used part of the designated corridor for the light rail.

In the rush to get the trams to Helensvale before the Commonwealth Games, part of the land set aside for a second M1 was cleared for the new light rail line and station.

The Coomera Connector and IRTC, and the corridor next to the Helensvale railway station.

The alternative motorway is planned along a transport corridor that runs in part between Parkwood and Helensvale parallel to the Pacific Motorway, but close to it is a 1500 apartment project worth up to $1 billion and a 25-block housing development.

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The State Opposition has warned the Government might have to fork out millions of dollars in compensation if developers are required to surrender any land.

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Aerial of the Helensvale railway station.

But Transport Minister Mark Bailey has dismissed Opposition fears and the Transport and

Main Roads Department has confirmed its staff are in negotiation with land owners, but declined to answer questions about potential compensation.

Mapping shows the pinch point will be at the Helensvale station where the new tram stop takes up an area that would have been used for the proposed six-lane Coomera Connector.

Bonney MP Sam O’Connor predicts the new highway between Nerang and Stapleton, which was costed at $2.4 billion, will blow out because there is not enough land.

“It doesn’t take an engineer to see that a six-lane arterial road isn’t going to fit between the light rail station (at Helensvale) and Country Club Drive,” he said.

Bonney MP Sam O'Connor. Photo by Richard Gosling

“The rush to build light rail stage 2 has meant the Government used the second M1 corridor in 2015 without providing enough space for the road.

“Four years later they’re covering their tracks with this ‘Helensvale realignment’.”

Mr O’Connor yesterday called on the Government to guarantee residents they would not be affected by the road and taxpayers left with potentially huge compensation payments.

“No expense should be spared on the sound barriers needed to protect current and future residents,” he said.

Developers were reluctant to comment, with one saying “we were only recently aware of the proposal and unsure of its implications on us”.

Map for the Coomera Connector previously known as the IRTC.

Mr O’Connor said the residential projects had been encouraged and developers received approval by a council eager for development around public transport nodes.

A TMR spokesperson said a joint 2015 study between the department and the council confirmed the corridor was a future strategic transport link to relieve traffic congestion on the M1 and surrounding local roads.

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“Any parties lodging development applications within the preserved corridor would have access to these documents and plans,” the spokesperson said.

“There are several development applications within the gazetted area of the Coomera Connector that we are aware of and we have been working with landowners and applicants as required.”

TMR plans to complete an options analysis by mid-year when the entire length of the corridor is gazetted.

Mr Bailey told the Bulletin: “It’s good to see Sam O’Connor acknowledging the Palaszczuk Government’s strong light rail record on the Gold Coast and progress on the Coomera Connector, even if he misrepresents its history.

“Back in 2015, when we secured funding for light rail stage 2 and built it in record time to ensure the success of the Commonwealth Games, the Coomera Connector corridor hadn’t yet been gazetted.”