Golden Age Opinion: Daniel O’Hare believes the Gold Coast needs better light rail linking across the region — and fast

THE Gold Coast light rail must become a network hub linking the city’s major business districts, stadiums and train stations for the city to thrive, writes urban planning expert Daniel O’Hare.

BY just focusing on roads we are not looking at the right part of the problem.

The structure of the city as a whole is an issue and we need to keep basing things on a public transport network which can serve as an alternative to the car.

If you make it attractive enough to people you will get some major improvements.

Some good starts have been made but more has to be done and we need the light trail to become more of a network rather than a single line.

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The crowds wait as the light rail tram enters the station at Helensvale. Picture: Jerad Williams

What we have gone now is great and what has been achieved over this short period is great but there is a need to keep going.

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In additional to going south, the thing which must be considered is the value the city would get by linking the health and knowledge centres of our major universities and hospitals.

We already have this in the north, but at some point we must get an east-west connection to Robina.

This way you will get the second-biggest university and the private hospital link and it would also create a rail loop connecting with the heavy rail.

What this will do is integrate the city’s knowledge, economic and culture.

This recognises that the Gold Coast is a new kind of city without one single city centre.

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Bond University Associate Professor Daniel O'Hare

We are a multi-centred city and among the major centres are Southport and Robina for business, education and health.

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There are the main tourism centre of Surfers Paradise, the conference and pleasure precinct of Broadbeach and then the tram would make its way from the coastal line to link back to our second cluster of health and knowledge facilities at Robina.

Passengers waiting at Helensvale station . Picture: Jerad Williams

It means we can really develop those areas and in making an extra east-west link viable it would encourage sufficient redevelopment along the line.

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It is not something we can wait on and must be done sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, the tram connection will keep going south to the somewhat forgotten third knowledge node at the border.

There is great potential for a much greater knowledge precinct to be created at the Southern Cross University campus which is right near the airport where the line will terminate.

This is all part of recognising that the Gold Coast is no longer just a holiday or retirement place or a dormitory for Brisbane.

Daniel O’Hare is an associate professor of urban planning at Bond University.