Traffic chaos in mad dash

DESPERATE Queenslanders returning from Greater Sydney waited hours at Gold Coast border checkpoints on Monday to avoid spending Christmas in hotel quarantine.

And border communities travelling northbound on the M1 on Monday saw lengthy delays as authorities erected border barricades overnight.

Gold Coast police Chief Superintendent Mark Wheeler said from 1am on Tuesday, even returning Queenslanders would be turned around at the border and told to head to the airport and into hotel quarantine at their own expense for 14 days – including the Christmas and new year holiday period.

Hard border closures also commenced at 6am on Tuesday and anyone entering the state now needs to complete a border declaration pass online prior to travelling to Queensland.

On Monday, residents from the state could enter the Gold Coast with a border pass, get tested for COVID-19 and quarantine at home, causing a flurry to cross border checkpoints to avoid going into hotel quarantine over Christmas.

All northbound lanes on the M1 were closed for nine hours overnight, and traffic diverted on to the Gold Coast Hwy, as police install barriers for the Queensland checkpoint.

Chief Supt Wheeler said delays at the major border crossings were being measured “in hours rather than minutes” and vehicles were backed up for kilometres.

He said more than 80 people had been turned back at the border.

Reinstated blockades saw traffic queuing on the M1 as far south as Banora Point on Monday.

One hundred metres of concrete barriers on the M1 used as part of a checkpoint, were only dismantled 21 days ago, after being in place for 250 days.

Other barriers at Coolangatta – dubbed the Great Wall of Dixon St – had been removed on December 1.

A Transport for NSW spokesman yesterday said: “Traffic control and a reduced speed limit will be in place for the safety of workers and road users.