Mayor Tom Tate announces massive transport spend

A mid-life review of the City’s 2013-2031 Transport Strategy highlights the need for a multi-pronged approach to meeting the Gold Coast’s emerging transport challenges.

Mayor Tom Tate presented a draft copy of the mid-life review to Full Council today.

“The 2019-2020 Budget will have a record spend on transport. I have also proposed that we need to spend $544 million over the next four years on specific congestion management initiatives, right across the Gold Coast,’’ he said.

“I applaud councillors for supporting this mid-life review and we will be working our Transport and Infrastructure Directorate harder than ever to deliver.

“We have a plan to roll out 53 projects over four years that focus on managing congestion across the city. These include major road projects, intersection upgrades, applying the latest technology to better manage our network, more active and public transport initiatives and travel demand management.”

Highlights include:

• $288 million on road upgrades and intersection upgrades

• $78 million on active and public transport projects 

• $178 million on maintaining our roads 

“The coast has experienced above-average population growth for the past four years,’’ he said.

“That puts pressure on every aspect of our city – roads, parks, our beaches, libraries, sporting fields and our cycle ways.

“And while everyone knows you can’t build your way out of congestion, we must ensure that where practical, local road works and upgrades are done at the same time as State upgrades in that same area.

“We look forward to working with the State Government to see the delivery of critical transport system upgrades to the M1, Coomera Connector and increased public transport services throughout the city.’’

The 2019-2020 Budget will be delivered on 13 June.