Project planning commences on QLD Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 4

Planning for Queensland’s Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 4 is now well underway with the development of a preliminary business case. 

The Queensland Government has released a detailed animation of how the future light rail route going beyond Burleigh will look like as part of the community consultation process that will inform the details for the project’s business case. 

Businesses and residents along the project route as well as the wider Gold Coast community are encouraged to have their say on this major transport infrastructure project that is part of the State’s COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan. 

“We’re investing in public transport on the Gold Coast to create jobs, stimulate the local economy and take cars off the roads into the future. 

“And today, we’re giving Gold Coasters an insight into what stage four might look like. 

“We want feedback from locals. We want to hear what they think of the designs – that's what today’s all about,” Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said. 

The Gold Coast Light Rail Stage 4 project will deliver a 13-kilometre extension of Stage 3 to link Burleigh Heads to Coolangatta via the Gold Coast Airport. 

This stage of the project will feature: 

• Dual track along the existing corridor alignment 
• Improved Palm Beach Avenue precinct – there is the potential to provide alternatives for through traffic so the intersection of Palm Beach Avenue, Gold Coast Highway and Cypress Terrace can be transformed into a pedestrian friendly precinct, with the opportunity for street front dining, shopping and urban renewal 
• Improved connectivity to the M1 – the improved connectivity for northern Palm Beach to the M1 and its new service roads, through a widened M1 overpass at 19th Avenue as part of the Pacific Motorway M1 Varsity Lakes Exit 85 to Tugun Exit 95 upgrade, will significantly improve access to and from Palm Beach 
• Active transport – there is opportunity to provide new dedicated bridge crossings for bikes and pedestrians across Tallebudgera and Currumbin Creeks 
• Oceanway – there is the opportunity to develop a beachfront oceanway path along the full length of Palm Beach to provide high standard bike riding and walking tracks 
• Toolona Street – associated projects could improve the safety and efficiency of the Gold Coast Highway and Toolona Street intersection, by providing alternative access points and reducing the number of traffic movements 
• Burleigh Heads National Park – the existing Burleigh Heads National Park would be preserved, and access improved to the southern entrance via active travel, light rail, bus and car options 
• Connectivity to Burleigh Ridge Park – in order to help protect wildlife between Burleigh Head National Park and Burleigh Ridge Park, a land fauna bridge could be provided, protecting biodiversity by reconnecting ecological corridors 

“We are still very much in the early stages of considering what a future stage of light rail past Burleigh might look like. 

“The flythrough video has been created to give Gold Coast residents a more realistic conception of how a future extension of light rail to Tugun could operate. 

“For the next three months, the project team will be at seven locations across the southern Gold Coast to answer questions and provide face-to-face information to residents interested in learning more about the project,” Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said. 

Feedback can also be provided through an online survey on the project website. 

The proposed project is aiming to provide an integrated public transport system between the greater Gold Coast and hubs such as the Gold Coast Airport, Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, Southern Cross University, and Coolangatta shopping and business precinct. 

“Our city is growing and moving at a rapid pace – that's why we’re upgrading the M1, building the Coomera Connector, building light rail stage 3 and delivering three new stations on the coast. 

“Linking light rail to the airport – together with the M1 and heavy rail – means the Gold Coast will be better connected and less congested. 

“We’ve seen people vote with their feet on light rail with more than 50 million trips taken on the existing system since it opened, and this extension will provide greater connectivity and accessibility for all Gold Coasters,” Member for Gaven Meaghan Scanlon said. 

The first round of consultation is going to be until 17 September and it will be focusing on the Burleigh Heads to Tugun section of the Stage 4 alignment. On the other hand, consultation on the Tugun to Coolangatta section will commence in early 2022 once the Gold Coast Highway – Tugun to Coolangatta – Multi-modal Corridor Study. 

The Queensland Government has committed approximately $1.5 million for transport planning study on the Gold Coast Light Rail from Tugun to Coolangatta and about $5 million has been jointly invested by the State Government and City of Gold Coast for the preliminary business case for Stage 4. 

Source: Queensland Government – Media Statements; Queensland Government – Department of Transport and Main Roads; Queensland Government; The Urban Developer; Inside Construction