Gold Coast to Logan M2 Coomera Connector road given green light

The M2 arterial road, also known as the Coomera Connector, has been given the green light as congestion continues to choke the city’s roads.

THE final route of the $2.4 billion second M1 has been locked in.

The state government will today announce it has gazetted the entire 45km route of the six-lane Coomera Connector which will create a second major arterial road between Nerang and Logan.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the road’s future was certain now that the final section between Stapylton and Logan had been locked in as a future state road.

‘‘There is a lot more work to do before this project comes to life,’’ he said.

‘‘The community will continue to be involved and provide feedback into the next stages of planning for the corridor.

“Opportunities for consultation will be both in person at a series of information sessions and online.”

Mr Bailey said the project was essential to lowering congestion on the M1.

“With more than 180,000 vehicles travelling on the M1 each day and strong population growth on the northern Gold Coast, we need to plan for the region’s future transport demands,” he said.

A map showing the Gold Coast's newest arterial road, the M2 or Coomera Connector. Photo: Department of Transport and Main Roads

“We want people to spend more time at home with their family and friends and less time in traffic, and that means responsibly planning now for growing communities between Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

“Now, the entire 45 kilometre Coomera Connector corridor — including the final northern stretch to the Logan Motorway — has been officially gazetted as a future state-controlled road.”

The M1 often bears the brunt of heavy delays because of traffic congestion between the Gold Coast and Logan. Picture: NIGEL HALLETT

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The Coomera Connector is tipped to take around 60,000 cars off a bottleneck on the M1.

The road, formerly known as the intra-regional transport corridor (IRTC), has long been part of the state government’s future plans but was dumped by the former Newman government in 2013 against the wishes of the Gold Coast City Council.

The project was restored in 2015 when the Palaszczuk government gazetted the Nerang to Coomera section of the road in March 2016 and the Coomera Stapylton section in May 2017.

It later became a political football at the 2017 state election when the LNP opposition pledged to build the project which it dubbed the “M2”.

Residents who have properties along the route have already been advised.

While construction is not expected to begin for many years, developers and political leaders are already preparing for it.

The design of the $600m Soncheng theme park at Carrara has been altered because it will sit next to the road, while Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate last year called for the state government to consider a public-private partnership to make the second motorway a toll road.