‘I would rather they put us in lockdown than sit in this traffic’: Gold Coast mum Jodie Coert

A Gold Coast mum who crosses the Queensland border daily and sits in traffic queues for up to 90 minutes has had enough. Here’s what she faces each day.

Gold Coast mum Jodie Coert said she would rather the state be in complete lockdown than sit in border traffic daily. Picture: SCOTT POWICK

A GOLD Coast mum who crosses the Queensland-NSW border daily would rather be in lockdown than continually face a gridlocked checkpoint.

Jodie Coert now has to leave her job at Tweed Heads by 1pm each day to make it to her son’s school in time for pick-up.

Ms Coert said traffic queues to cross the border had blown out this week due to more stringent restrictions for NSW and Victorian residents.

Traffic on Ducat St, Tweed Heads heading north towards the Queensland border checkpoint on Miles St, Coolangatta. Picture: Scott Powick.

She said what used to be an easy 15-minute trip to pick up her eight-year-old boy was now taking 40 to 90 minutes.

The Elanora local said she understood the Queensland Premier’s need to protect the state but believed there should be additional checkpoints to ease traffic queues.

“I have to leave work an hour earlier because it takes me 40 minutes to cross the border at Ducat St at 1pm,” Ms Coert said.

“There are plenty of roads out there to open but we’ve been barricaded in and it’s affecting our livelihood.

“It’s horrible. I would rather they put us in lockdown than sit in this traffic.”

Tweed Mall customers have also been impacted by gridlocked drivers waiting to cross the Griffith St checkpoint.

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Centre manager John Weaver said peak-hour traffic brought Tweed and Coolangatta streets to a standstill and travel times for business operators and staff had increased significantly.

Mr Weaver said customers trying to leave the centre were getting stuck at the Bay St traffic lights because only a few cars were getting through on green.

“It’s a challenge and everyone’s frustrated about the delays and impact on business and tourism but we have to try to work around it,” Mr Weaver said.

He said residents were adapting to the traffic holdups by using backstreets to gain access to Tweed Mall.

“Most of them tend to come in the back way and use the backstreets from the hospital,” Mr Weaver said.

“They’re learning how to get around it and avoiding peak times of the day.”