Last week Brisbane Lord Mayer Graham Quirk unveiled the Brisbane City Council's $3b Budget for 2016-17 and a large chunk of funding, $781.7m to be exact, is going towards tackling conjestion.
There are 90 road improvement projects planned across the city, but the two key projects are the Kingsford Smith Drive and the planned Brisbane Metro Subway System.
The Budget provides for $316m funding towards the $650m Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade, which will see 3,000 workers employed during the construction phase. Lendlease was awarded the tender and early works commenced in at the beginning of 2016.
Artist impression of the Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade. Source: KSD Upgrade
The Brisbane Metro is a $1.54b subway system with tracks installed mostly inside the current busway network running from Woolloongabba to Herston. Council is currently working on the Business Case for the Metro, with plans to have this finalised by May 2017. The Budget allocates $16m towards progressing the Business Case.
Following the Business Case, design will be undertaken from 2017 to 2018. In line with funding, construction of the project is expected to start in early 2019 and take approximately four years to complete.
Other key projects that benefit from funding are the Inner City Bypass upgrade, allocated $30m, and Stage 1 of the Wynnum Road Corridor, allocated $44m.
Additional project funding includes:
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Source: BCC