Gold Coast Highway traffic: $12m to upgrade entrance to Gold Coast Airport

More than $12 million will be spent redeveloping of one of the Gold Coast’s worst congestion hot spots and “allowing for integration of heavy and light rail connections.” SEE HOW IT WILL BE DONE

MORE than $12 million spent redeveloping of one of the Gold Coast’s worst congestion hot spots and “allowing for integration of heavy and light rail connections.”

A new southern entrance will be built for the Gold Coast Airport under a deal set to change the face of the complex.

The new entrance will be built on the NSW border, taking pressure off the Gold Coast Highway-Terminal Drive intersection.

MILLIONS TO BE SPENT ON SOUTHERN LIGHT RAIL BUSINESS CASE

Artist impression of new southern entrance to the Gold Coast Airport which will be jointly funded by the Queensland Government, Gold Coast Airport and New South Wales government.

HOW TRAMS WILL GET TO THE AIRPORT

It will be jointly funded by the Queensland and NSW state governments and the airport itself.

Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the time was right to start planning a second entrance to the airport.

“Before COVID-19 arrived, the Gold Coast Airport was the sixth busiest airport in Australia, with about 6.4 million people passing through its gates each year,” he said.

“Even with the drop off in flights, there is still more than 2000 people employed in the airport precinct, making it one of the largest employment hubs on the Gold Coast.

Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey Picture: NCA NewsWire/Dan Peled

“The Gold Coast Airport is the closest major airport for a large catchment of people in NSW, so it makes sense to build a new southern entrance which will take pressure off the northern entrance at Tugun.”

The State Government will immediately commit $375,000 for planning and design for the future Gold Coast Airport access road and intersection as a 50/50 jointly-funded project with the New South Wales Government, and has held discussions with them about splitting the cost of the upgrade.

It is expected to reduce congestion.

The total cost of the project is $12 million with the State Government to commit $6.2 million to it.

The NSW Government has already contributed funding for planning and expressed interest in spitting the total funds for the project.

“The Palaszczuk Government will provide a capped amount of $6.2 million to the Gold Coast Airport to build the new entrance, and will ensure it is future-proofed to allow for integration of heavy and light rail connections,” Mr Bailey said.

The airport is in the early stages of its $500 million upgrade, which will see its terminal expanded.

The project is getting funded.

Queensland Airports CEO Chris Mills welcomed the commitment.

“This is a true cross-border project, and we are pleased to have support from both state governments for the design phase. We look forward to progressing with co-funding in the project delivery phase as well,” he said.

“We expect most passengers will use this road to access the airport precinct – whether they are coming from Queensland or NSW. But this project will also improve traffic flow around the precinct for Southern Cross University students and guests in the newly built Rydges hotel.

“Once travel restrictions ease and our business begins to recover from the impacts of COVID-19, this project will be central to managing growth in this precinct for many years to come.”