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EXCLUSIVE: New maps reveal true traffic hell

MAJOR Gold Coast roads to key Commonwealth Games venues and the athletes village are at gridlock months before the starter’s pistol to the city’s biggest event.

Gold Coast City Council maps designed as a blueprint to future road networks show main traffic arteries are already clogged at peak times and tipped to worsen by 2036 when an extra one million cars will be on the streets.

A council report found residents were making 1.7 million trips each day on the city’s 4000km of roads. Almost 85 per cent of those trips were in private vehicles.

Ross Street near Carrara Stadium, Smith St from the Pacific Motorway to the Parklands athletes village and parts of Brisbane Rd and the M1 are at saturation point.

The data for the mapping does not include the 150,000 extra vehicles expected on the road from Brisbane to the Coast in April next year.

PAUL WESTON THE major Gold Coast roads to key Commonwealth Games venues and the athletes village are working at over capacity and guaranteed of gridlock even without the extra event traffic.

The Bulletin has obtained Road Network Congestion maps showing the morning and afternoon peak traffic for the city. They show some of the worst black spots are at critical entry and exit points from venues.

Used by the council for its future road funding plan, the 2016 data shows:

The length of Ross next to Carrara Stadium over capacity with traffic.

Smith St from the Pacific Motorway to the Parklands athletes village cannot accommodate any more vehicles in the morning and afternoon peaks.

The other major northern entry point along Brisbane Rd is also over capacity around St is the Coombabah wetlands.

The perimeter roads around the village, Olsen Ave and Smith St are at gridlock, particularly near the Gold Coast University Hospital.

The northern section of the Pacific Motorway is at over capacity from Yawalpah Rd at Pimpama south to Hope Island Rd.

The southern stretch of the M1 where the six lanes constrict to two from Mudgeeraba south to Tugun similarly cannot cope in the traffic peaks.

The data for the mapping does not include the 150,000 extra vehicles expected on the road from Brisbane to the Coast in April next year.

A council survey with stakeholders on the freight industry has found key challenges, including a “lack of communication for road congestion and road closures”.

The council’s draft road network plan warns “the local road network will be challenged by significantly reduced road capacity due to road closures and the introduction of the Games Route Network”.

Council is working to reduce freight movements, provide real-time transport information and encourage fans and residents to use public transport.

Residents are making 1.7 million trips each day on the city’s 4000km of roads with almost 85 per cent of those in their private car, the report said.

This figure will increase by almost 1 million by 2036.

A State of the Network report found 4.8 per cent of residents were using public transport, only slightly up from 3.1 per cent in 2011 and a long way from the 2026 target of nine per cent.

After seven years of a downward trend in fatalities and hospital treatments from accidents, the report admits 2016 was a “challenging year” as injuries on the city’s road network topped more than 700.

The council is responding by implementing a plan which includes “pinch points” where upgrades are made on traffic hot spots along with supporting the State Government on upgrading the M1 and its corridor.

Southport Chamber of Commerce president Laird Marshall said members were urging authorities to look at water transport as a solution