Report recommends against Bridge

A report entitled "Assessment of Proposal for a bridge over the Nerang River from Carrara to Benowa" prepared by Rod Grose, Manager for Transport Planning for the Gold Coast City Council.

This report was presented at the Engineering Services Committee Meeting on 12th September 2006, and strongly recommeded against the proposal.

The following recommendation was made to Council

It is recommended that Council resolves as follows:

1 That no further action be taken in relation to a bridge link from Carrara Road to Benowa Road and that residents be advised accordingly.

2 That Council officers (Manager Transport Planning) continues to liaise with the Department of Main Roads on the matter of the Ross Street/Currumburra Road/Ashmore Road intersection and advise Council when suitable proposals for improvements to that intersection have been prepared and are able to be carried forward.

The Summary from the report:

"The investigations undertaken into the merits of a bridge linking Carrara Road do not provide justification for such a bridge. The bridge would introduce major through traffic flows onto long-established lightly-trafficked residential streets (Carrara Road and Benowa Road). This is inconsistent with the concept of a planned hierarchy of roads, and incompatible with the local residential environment.

Such a bridge link would not assist with the functioning of overall arterial road network in the City. It would reduce the traffic flow on the nearby Ross Street Bridge, which has been recently duplicated in recognition of its role in the road network. Other planned arterial road linkages such as the Intra Regional Transport Corridor will provide additional north-south road capacity, including additional road capacity across the Nerang River, as part of a planned metropolitan road network. That corridor exists in State ownership and the SEQ Infrastructure Plan and Program identifies the funding necessary for its staged construction over the coming years.

There are some growing operational traffic issues at the Ross Street / Currumburra Road / Ashmore Road intersection, which have been the subject of a recent consultancy initiated by Main Roads. Main Roads and Council need to work together to determine how to progress improvements to this intersection."