Gold Coast light rail construction: Intersection works on Gold Coast Highway between Mermaid Beach and Miami

Central Gold Coast residents are set to face traffic delays as the next stage of light rail works ramps up this week, as it reaches another milestone. FIND OUT MORE

Central Gold Coast residents are set to face traffic delays as the next stage of light rail works ramps up.

The works, at key intersections along the Gold Coast Highway in Mermaid Beach and Miami, will last for six weeks until late February.

Rail tracks and related infrastructure will be put in place on the highway at the intersections with Markeri Street, Surfers Ave, Pacific Ave, Paradise Ave and Pacific Fair Drive.

GoldlinQ CEO Phil Mumford said each intersection would take three to four weeks to complete, with the first occurring at the Markeri Street and Surfers Ave intersections this week.

GoldlinQ’s Phil Mumford. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“The construction approach to building track across intersections in Mermaid Beach and Miami is designed to keep traffic moving through these work areas and, where possible, limit disruption to businesses and residents in the area,” he said.

“Intersections will be kept partially open and access to local businesses and homes will be maintained during works.”

It is the first step in a year which is set to see much of the Broadbeach to Burleigh stretch of the light rail rise from the ground. It comes after a long and frustrating 2024 in which a major blowout in the project’s cost was revealed amid delays and slow progress, sparking criticisms from locals and business owners.

Speaking in early January Mr Mumford said that the first trams would be tested by September, with passengers finally riding by mid-2026.

“We’re approaching it like a runway and the first milestone will be to get the trams testing from Broadbeach to Miami North by September 2025. I am confident we will get that done, with trams travelling all the way to Burleigh by early 2026,” he said.

“Every week in 2025 this job will change and come to life in front of the public’s eyes.

“It has been a long, hard two-and-a-half years and I’m over it, everyone who works on it is over it, the public are over it but we have future-proofed this corridor.

Light rail construction at Miami. Picture: Glenn Campbell

“The public hasn’t seen what we were doing (underground) but this is not greenfield corridor, this is infill that has had bits and bobs left underground from previous jobs.”

Mr Mumford said around 8000 tests would be performed before the first passengers boarded the tram south.

“By the end of 2025 we will have most of the track down, the stations will be finishing, the overhead lines will be up and running and some of it will be powered up,” he said.

“You’ll see the pavement of the highway looking brand new, but every week this job will change (in 2025).”

It comes just days after Premier David Crisafulli met with Mayor Tom Tate to discuss tourism and transport infrastructure, including the light rail.

The LNP said in the lead-up to the state election in October that they would review plans to extend the line to the border via Gold Coast Airport, which Mr Tate wants built ahead of the 2032 Olympics.

Mr Crisafulli said on Thursday he was “confident” a solution would be reached.

“I want the people around the corridor to know they will be treated vastly differently from how they have been treated to this point and that review will be done in the course of this year but Brent (Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg) is actively working on that,” he said.

“I am very confident we will sort out the transport issues before 2032 in a way which was not possible beforehand.”