Golden age: Nearly 80 per cent of Gold Coast Motorists rate the M1 as bad or very bad

Locals have revealed exactly what they think about the M1 as experts and political leaders reveal how they’re going to solve it. SEE THE RESULTS

MOST Gold Coasters rate the M1 a shocking road, are stuck in traffic several times a week and are caught waiting on off-ramps where they fear for their life.

Nearly 80 per cent of residents surveyed in the Gold Coast Bulletin’s Golden Age campaign considered the Pacific Highway between Brisbane and the Coast a “bad or extremely bad road”.

Gold Coasters say they’re not happy with the M1 Picture Glenn Hampson

More than half — 56 per cent — also said they had been “caught on the M1 waiting to get on the off-ramp and feared for their safety”.

The federal and state governments will jointly fund a $2 billion plan to widen the highway and experts say there is a dire need to make off-ramps safer and more effective.

Engineer and Southport businessman John Howe said there was a “fundamental” engineering issue with the M1’s on and off-ramps and called for uniform planning.

GOLDEN AGE: SOLUTIONS TO COAST’S TRAFFIC NIGHTMARE

John Howe. Picture by Scott Fletcher

“Where the ramps are coming on and off the M1 there is not enough merge capacity. In fact, as the traffic increases coming off the dedicated flow it shows there needs to be more lanes.

“There is a fundamental engineering issue with those ramps and what needs to happen is a holistic view of the whole network. Not just on bits and pieces.

“Given how the funding seems to occur, we just get band aids on different areas.

GOLDEN AGE: WHY THIS TRADIE IS FED UP WITH TRAFFIC

The M1 is busy at 4.30am Picture Glenn Hampson

“This needs a multibillion-dollar spend to fix it and the massive increase in population between the Gold Coast and Brisbane must be recognised.

“The greatest example is the Story Bridge in Brisbane. In the 1940s they spent the money and built the extra lanes. They were not needed then, but they had the foresight to see what would be needed in the future. Whereas we go through in patches and then need to go back to do more.

“This is a problem which planners and engineers cannot deal with unless they have access to the resources and capital necessary to fix it.”

Labor said it hoped to deliver the $25 million upgrade at Oxenford Exit 57 in next week’s Budget.

About $3.45 million is budgeted for research on the Coomera Connector — the 36.5km Intra Regional Transport Corridor running between Carrara and Stapylton — $1 million for north and southbound exits at Yatala, and $500,000 on studies for pinch points at Ormeau and Pimpama.

The LNP pledged $100 million for off-ramps if it won last year’s State Election.

More than third of survey respondents (35 per cent) rated Coomera the worst highway ramp.

The other most gridlocked M1 turn-offs were Reedy Creek (25 per cent), Pimpama (17 per cent), Elanora (16 per cent) and Yatala (6 per cent).

RACQ data shows call-outs on the M1 are up from 809 in 2016 to 923 last year.

The worst places for call-outs are the highway’s gridlocked sections near ramps. They include a total of 941 breakdowns at Stapylton, followed by 124 at Reedy Creek, 77 at Pimpama, 70 at Ormeau, 69 at Coomera, 59 at Oxenford and 43 at Gaven.

Coomera MP Michael Crandon estimated $160 million would cover the necessary upgrades at Exit 41 at Yatala, Exit 45 at Ormeau and Exit 75 at Pimpama.

“If there’s nothing in this year’s budget we’re a year away from anything happening. It’s already log jammed,” he said.

Respondents to the Golden Age survey rejected reducing speeds as a solution to gridlock.

Asked if the speed limit should be reduced, 82 per cent of motorists say the M1 should remain at 110km/h. The survey results mirror social media feedback as the Government conducts a review.

After numerous reports during a previous Gold Coast Bulletin campaign, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk last month agreed to a 50-50 funding split with the Commonwealth to fix the M1.

Labor will commit $897 million in the State Budget for a major upgrade of the Pacific Motorway, which will see:

● The M1 to be widened between Varsity Lakes and Tugun from four to six lanes, with a new off-ramp built in the northbound lanes to connect with Southport-Burleigh Rd.

● The motorway to be widened from six to eight lanes on the Brisbane stretch between Eight Mile Plains and Daisy Hill.

Labor’s current M1 Action Plan involves funding construction of the Exit 57 interchange upgrade at Oxenford, with works planned to start next year.

Planning continues for upgrades to interchanges at Yatala North, Yatala South, Ormeau and Pimpama, preserving the future Coomera Connector corridor.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said yesterday the government was spending heavily on four major M1 upgrades in contrast to the LNP which did not even start basic planning under former Premier Campbell Newman.

“In stark contrast, the Palaszczuk Labor Government added extra lanes on the eastern side at the Oxenford Exit 57 interchange and we commenced and completed construction of the $74 million Exit 54 Coomera Interchange upgrade last term,” he said.

“I’m confident this year’s Budget will deliver further funding to meet our election commitment of a $25 million upgrade at Oxenford Exit 57 and to finish the necessary planning started by Labor for Exits 38 (Yatala North), 41 (Yatala South), 45 (Ormeau) and 49 (Pimpama).

“We will release more detail on which projects will receive significant funding in this year’s budget when it is handed down on June 12.”

M1 facts and figures

● In 1996 the Borbidge government approved the $630 million eight-laning of the M1 but successive governments knew it that after several decades it would reach capacity.

●The Pacific Motorway is now tipped to reach capacity at the fast-growing northern end this year.

● The M1’s maximum hourly capacity is 2300 vehicles at peak flow, which converts to 162,000 vehicles per day. At the Coomera interchange in 2016, Main Roads recorded almost 153,000 vehicles.

● Exit 57 at Oxenford has been operating at over capacity by almost 3000 vehicles a day for at least five years.

● Road Network Congestion mapping provided to council shows the M1 is at capacity from the exit south of Yalwalpah Rd to Hope Island Rd and the Helensvale stretch north of the

Brisbane Rd exit.

● Other sections at capacity include south of the Smith St exit through to the bridge across the Nerang River, and Mudgeeraba to Varsity section.

● Looking at those areas over capacity, the M1 has a small stretch just before the Reedy Creek turn-off and a much longer section south to the Tugun bypass.

● The M1 car park is costing Gold Coast workers travelling to Brisbane more than $400 million in lost wages each year.

● An average of 41,000 workers travel to and from the capital city for work, spending almost three hours a day behind the wheel on the M1, or on the train

● The latest Treasury figures predict the Coast workforce travelling to Brisbane will increase

to 45,000 in 2040-41.

● Combined with 75,000 commuters from Logan, Brisbane’s transport network will need to cope with an influx of 120,000 workers each day.