TIME TO GET IN SAME CAR

IN late January, councillors vented about the Gold Coast’s gridlocked road network.

This was the first meeting of the city’s new powerful Transport and Infrastructure committee, built to move the city forward after the Commonwealth Games.

A councillor, at the time, told colleagues he could not understand why sections of the M1 south of Robina could not be upgraded immediately.

Another colleague cautioned against council taking a lead role in redesigning the highway but urged for more lobbying of governments.

The councillor described the M1 as “political poison” and if council started taking a lead role in design it could end up paying much of the cost.

The political divide was as wide as the barrier on the M1, but consensus was reached. Councillors agreed to organise a priority transport summit.

They had been discussing a city freight plan report which revealed only 4.8 per cent of Coast residents are using public transport. Almost 85 per cent rely on their vehicle, creating major congestion on the Pacific Motorway and feeder roads.

The plan was for councillors to meet with all the city’s politicians.

Five months later it has been postponed with no indication when it will occur.

If it takes the council almost six months to plan a priority summit to discuss traffic gridlock, how long would it take to fix a road?

In launching its Golden Age series, the Bulletin has given voice to our readers.

A overwhelming majority of commuters believe the M1 is a dud, and most of them will switch to the train if the fares and service are reasonable.

Today, we are given a clear picture of just how many of our feeder roads are either at capacity or over capacity.

Some of those roads are at the planning stages for upgrades. Others like the stressed Yalwalpah and Foxwell roads in the city’s fast-growing north, we are told, will benefit soon from developer contributions.

But the responses from several councillors about their priority roads proves as illuminating as the city’s entrance sign at Yatala on the M1.

Some of them make the important point that there is no use in upgrading a feeder road if a crowded interchange – a State road – remains a mess.

They also stress that a band-aid solution to some of the city’s most congested interchanges is not a solution.

But some councillors are showcasing their narrow vision by just blaming the city’s gridlock on the M1 and focusing on their political opponents at a State level.

The debate and solution is as stalled as the traffic.

All stakeholders should be sitting down at the same table and working on a city-wide fix to a problem which can cruel the Coast’s economy.

Obviously there will be some disagreements. Some of the city’s LNP MPs are opposed to the council driving the light rail south along the coastline through their electorates.

Whatever the political speed bump here, it needs to be removed. Our politicians need to be on the same road driving forward with transport reform.