Finally i heard the otherday its STARTED wooooohooooo this is going to remove the biggest problem area on the Gold Coast and the link between NSW & QLD, it actually looks like a good 60% of the bypass will be in NSW so i wonder why its all being done by QLD?
Looks to be partly a Tunnel :D

"All work is expected to be finished by late 2008." yay

well here is info:
http://www.mainroads.qld.gov.au/content/Tugun+Bypass+Project

You know I read that they were planning to extend the M1 upgrade (like the bit from Brisbane to Southport) to extend to connect up with the tugun bypass, but the Feds as usual completely ignored us on funding, shafted again it seems.

Highway robbery $1b Budget road package ignores vital Gold Coast link
The Gold Coast Bulletin April 24, 2006.

THE vital Gold Coast link in the federal highway network has been snubbed in a $1 billion road package.

Pre-budget leaks reveal the May 9 Budget will contain $700 million to finish the dual carriageway project along the Hume Highway and further flood-proof far north Queensland's Bruce Highway. However, the key southeast Queensland link in the national network and the Gold Coast corridor has been ignored.

Peak motoring body the RACQ said that although the Tugun Bypass funding was locked in, it would take more than $1 billion to complete the upgrade of the Pacific Motorway from Nerang to Tugun and it appeared the Coast had missed out. The State Government has demanded the Federal Government match funds to upgrade the highway which is struggling to cope with the massive volume of daily traffic.

Premier Peter Beattie said Queensland had been badly deprived when it came to federal funding for roads. "NSW and Victoria have been given clear advantages over us and I would hope that we would get our fair share," said Mr Beattie.

"We didn't get our fair share of university places for doctors and we haven't had our fair share of money for roads. "I would like to see a large slice of that billion dollars for roads spent in Queensland."

However, Federal Liberal MP Steven Ciobo said the State Government did not prioritise the Gold Coast stretch strongly enough in their submission to the Federal AusLink program. "The reality is, since 2001, the Federal Government has given $180 million in funding for (Gold Coast) roads," he said.

"All the federal members on the Gold Coast have pushed, but the State Government has not pushed hard enough for this section." NRMA president Alan Evans said ignoring the Pacific Highway could cost the Federal Government votes at the next election.

"There will be a pretty strong reaction from the community if they find money's going into those two roads but not into the Pacific," said Mr Evans. He warned motoring organisations would make the Pacific Highway into an election issue if it was left out of any upgrade.

The RACQ has urged Queensland's federal representatives to push even harder for increased roads funding for the state in next month's Budget. Chief executive Alan Terry said the additional funding for the Bruce Highway was encouraging, but it was nowhere near enough to bring Queensland's national highway system up to an acceptable level.

"We would naturally welcome any portion of the $700 million to $1 billion that has been suggested would be shared between the Bruce and Hume Highways," said Mr Terry "Let's remember that the entire national network in Queensland is estimated, on Main Roads Department figures, to need an additional $5.7 billion over and above current federal commitments through AusLink to bring these important highways merely to an acceptable standard."

Mr Terry said an additional $1.5 billion was required to bring the Bruce Highway alone to that standard. Other sections of the national network still requiring additional funding included the Warrego Highway ($800 million), Cunningham Highway ($140 million), Gore Highway ($105 million), Lands-borough Highway ($70 million) and Ipswich Motorway (at least $750 million above current federal commitments).

Yes its allways plain sailing untill you get to nerang, 4 lanes...... 3 lanes....... huh only 2 lanes and massive traffic jam 90% of the time for like 20km/s right through tugun, HELLO the gold coast is massive its 2006 they think we can handle only 1 dual lane highway :(

Well, once again, the Pacific Highway, although now a Auslink National Link, was not a National Highway and so is not a 100% (or 80/20) Commonwealth funding responsibility.

This is good stuff but are they going to tunnel under the airport? And today i was fongling through a brisbane street directory and from Jacobs Well Road near Yatala all the way to Carrara and is labelled: "Proposed Intra Regional Transport Corridor" Now what is this about?

This is good stuff but are they going to tunnel under the airport? And today i was fongling through a brisbane street directory and from Jacobs Well Road near Yatala all the way to Carrara and is labelled: "Proposed Intra Regional Transport Corridor" Now what is this about?

That was the alternative 'Koala Road' corridor option instead of the 8 lane Pacific Highway upgrade. There is nothing new about this corridor other than it now being reconsidered as part of the SEQ Regional Plan.

^^ that corridor is a waste of time IMO. it runs pararell to the M1. what good would it do?

^^ that corridor is a waste of time IMO. it runs pararell to the M1. what good would it do?

Please dont ad another pathetic road running parralell, it needs 8 lanes to Tweed :)

^^ that corridor is a waste of time IMO. it runs pararell to the M1. what good would it do?

The idea is that it would be for local travel(eg. Nerang-Helensvale) while the M1 would be purely to go longer distances.

Does this mean that once it's built it will be freeway standard all the way from Tweed upto the Sunshine Coast?

yeah. well its close enough now but yeah, tweed to cooroy. motorway for something like 250kms

^^ And they are doing feasability to do freeway standard up to curra, about 20km North of Gympie!!

Thank God they are going to finally make a start. I just drove down to Lismore last night and then came back this afternoon and the Tugun Bypass will make such a big difference, if not in time it should make this section of the drive much safer. As for the rest of the stretch from Tugun to Nerang it truly is disgusting, and feels even more so considering the fantastic quality of road at either end.

Well by the time we're all grey and smelly it will be freeway from cairns to melbourne! WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!