20-year transport vision unveiled for south-east Queensland

The Queensland Government’s Connecting SEQ 2031 transport plan unveils a sustainable transport vision for the next 20 years.

Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk and Main Roads Minister Craig Wallace released the Connecting SEQ 2031: An Integrated Regional Transport Plan for South East Queensland today.

“The release of the final integrated transport plan today is great news, letting people know about our plans and giving a clear direction for future transport projects,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“This is a 20-year blueprint to further develop South East Queensland’s busy transport system to ensure we meet the needs of this rapidly growing community.

“The population of South-East Queensland is expected to nearly double from 2.7 million people in 2006 to 4.24 million in 2031; a population the size of Sydney but spread over an area about three times the size.

“To meet challenges such as population growth, climate change and traffic in the region, we need to change the way people move.

“The plan highlights many vital projects like Cross River Rail which will provide essential capacity for the rail network, potentially doubling the number of train services to the city as well as increasing services across the entire network.

“Cross River Rail will be a revolution to public transport in Brisbane with new inner city stations which will also reenergise the CBD.

Connecting SEQ 2031 is further evidence of the critical role Cross River Rail will play in Brisbane’s transport future.

“This is part of a service revolution with UrbanLink delivering a high frequency service in Brisbane seven days a week.

“We added about 200,000 weekly seats in June with stage one of the train timetable overhaul with TransLink and Queensland Rail working on stage two now. In August, we rolled out more than 103,000 weekly seats to the network with the opening of the $466 million Eastern Busway extension.

“In the last two years, we have added 600,000 new weekly seats on public transport, invested in new bikeways, and built shared pedestrian pathways.”

Connecting SEQ 2031 will guide all levels of government in prioritising investment in public transport, roads, active transport and freight, delivering the maximum benefit across the whole transport system.

Mr Wallace said the $1.9 billion Dinmore to Goodna Ipswich Motorway project was the perfect example of the kind of project covered by the plan.

“This project will widen 8 kilometres of the Ipswich Motorway from four to six lanes, including major interchanges, shared bike pedestrian paths, and new road and pedestrian bridges,” Mr Wallace said.

“With project expected to be finished by the end of next year, we are already delivering for the south-east.

“We’ve got a plan and a vision and we’re proud to share it with the people of Queensland.

“We’re building roads to keep people connected and to make sure our goods are able to get where they need to go.

“This plan provides a vision for economic and social growth of our state.”

Other projects include:

·the first section of a Brisbane subway connecting Toowong to Newstead/Bowen Hills and supporting major growth in the inner city

·Gold Coast light rail

·Northern Busway

·Expansion of the Springfield to Richlands Rail corridor

·Port of Brisbane Motorway upgrade

·Bruce Highway upgrade – Caloundra Road to Curra

·Pacific Motorway upgrade – Nerang to Tugan

·Connected and managed motorways to complete the motorway network and improve overall performance.

The timing for these projects will be outlined in future years through the Queensland Government’s Queensland Infrastructure Plan (QIP), which was released for consultation in July and provides a clear outline of short-term infrastructure projects, as well as forward planning for longer-term infrastructure priorities.

For more information or to download a copy of Connecting SEQ 2031, visit the project website at www.connectingseq.qld.gov.au

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Media contact:
Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk - Damon Cavalchini - 0409 065 468