GOLD COAST BULLETIN

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

LIGHT-RAIL engineers needed a new tape measure after an apparent design flaw in the tram network caused havoc for motorists on the Gold Coast Highway.

Pictures sent in to the Bulletin showed Goldlinq trams blocking a lane of southbound highway traffic at traffic lights near the intersection of the highway and Surfers Paradise Blvd.

Local resident “Rob” said it was “comical” to see a tram that was covered in road safety messages causing such a dangerous situation for motorists and took the photos.

“It is pretty silly and it is frustrating to see,” he said.

“I don’t like seeing our money wasted and obviously that is a big problem. It is going to cause some major headaches.”

Goldlinq CEO Phil Mumford said his company was aware of the problem and the traffic lights were to blame.

“We are aware of this incident – it was caused by a light phasing issue and this is why we have a testing and commissioning phase,” Mr Mumford said.

“The issue is being fixed.”

It is understood the two sets of tram traffic lights on the Gold Coast Highway will both stay green while the tram travels through.

A Goldlinq spokeswoman said the lights were in sync during previous testing but the issue was encountered earlier that week when they became un-synched.

“It would be kind of funny if it wasn’t so serious,” said a local businessman.

The issue was resolved before the trams began taking passengers four months later in July 14.