STREET SMARTS
Public warned to go early or risk missing Games
THE Commonwealth Games opening ceremony tonight — and the next 11 days of competition — will be an amazing spectacle, but the public is being warned to plan.
With road closures and restrictions, and absolutely no parking, the road to the Carrara Stadium is a roundabout route involving walking, buses, trams and trains — and time.
Organisers and the GC2018 Journey Planner warn the public to allow plenty of time to get there, and then to return home afterwards, with travel times possibly blowing out up to 10 times what it might take normally.
TRAVEL times could blow out by up to ten times for Games fans tonight as they combine walking and using bus, tram and train options to get to the opening ceremony.
Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey, on the Gold Coast yesterday along with transport officials, urged residents to use the GC2018 Journey Planner.
Get Set for the Games technical director Rose McArthur told the Bulletin: “The venue does not operate as it normally does, you have to plan your journey.
“I can’t stress enough the fact that there is no parking at the venue or close to the venue, there are temporary changes around the stadium that inhibit parking.
“So plan your journey and leave plenty of time to just enjoy every minute, including the journey. Don’t risk being late.
“For those not attending, just be aware that it will be very busy around the whole Carrara precinct from 5pm to 7pm and from 10pm until late, and of course the Nerang-Broadbeach Road is closed in both directions from Ross Street to Chisholm Road.”
A check of the planner by the Bulletin shows that covering the 12.6km from a hinterland suburb like Pacific Pines to Carrara for example, which under normal circumstances is an 11-minute drive, will be a trip of more than an hour.
The planner advises residents using the train from the Helensvale station to a bus hook-up at Nerang to get to the opening ceremony to expect a trip of an hour and eight minutes.
If they choose an option on the journey planner of walking to the station from their home at Pacific Pines and using a shuttle bus, their trip is expected to be an hour and 50 minutes.
Southport residents along with many others on the tourist strip face a complex combination of public transport options to go west to the venues, with trips four times longer than usual.
The 11.7km trip from the Southport CBD to Carrara usually takes 17 minutes by car but under the planner, just before the opening ceremony it could be just more than an hour.
One option of 47 minutes involves taking the tram from Southport to Helensvale, the train to Nerang and then a shuttle bus to Carrara Stadium.
Another, using the tram and a Games shuttle, takes 52 minutes. Two options using shuttle buses take 59 minutes. Another involves two buses but the 40-minute journey has a catch – there is a 10-minute walk from the drop-off to the stadium.
A Biggera Waters resident, who has a ticket to the opening ceremony, told the Bulletin: “It’s insane, some of the stuff on the journey planner.’’
The resident told of having to journey west to Helensvale by bus and then get on a train to Nerang and then a shuttle to the stadium.
Options following that route would take between 45 and 47 minutes. An alternative option using buses running south from Harbour Town to Southport and Broadbeach, and then to the stadium, would take an hour and 22 minutes, or 56 minutes taking buses south through Ashmore directly to the stadium, according to the planner.
For residents living on the Coast’s southern end, the journey planner recommends catching a bus to Broadbeach before hooking into a shuttle service to Carrara.
The 27.4km trip from Currumbin, which takes 24 minutes by car, is expected to take an hour and 35 minutes using two bus services.
After gauging the response from about 30,000 people at-
tending rehearsals for the opening ceremony, Mr Bailey was encouraged by so many people making use of active and public transport to get to the event.
‘‘It was also good to see so many spectators walking from Nerang station to Carrara Stadium for the event,’’ he said.
A TMR spokesperson there was a significant increase in public transport services for spectators and accredited workforce to support the opening ceremony.
“We have over 1000 additional bus services running, trams commenced 24 hour operations on Sunday and trains commence 24 hour operations from (tonight, Wednesday, April 4) for the duration of the Games,” the spokesperson
said. “The Route GC2018 Shuttle Bus service will also be running 24 hours a day every 15 minutes connecting people with major Games venues between Helensvale and Nerang.”
“We’ll also run extra special event train services to support the opening and closing ceremonies on April 4 and 15.”
Trams from early yesterday at both the Helensvale and Broadbeach ends were packed with commuters.
The opening ceremony today is due to start at 7.55pm and will go for as long as four hours, with the expanded stadium able to accommodate 35,000 fans.
Rehearsals have shown it should take more than an hour for spectators to leave Carrara.