As the #CoomeraConnector / #SecondM1 motorway duplication project in Gold Coast is nearing partial opening later this year, the "find out" phase of FAFO has started. Local councillors and state MPs, who pushed for the new road are now doubling down and requesting even more hundreds of millions $ to be spent on extending it past Coomera, to Yawalpah Rd, and widening a local Helensvale Rd, or else we will have "trafic chaos", "gridlock", "bedlam" and "ruin".
On days when I take the train to work, I am reminded of the biggest ecological vandalism that was committed in my city by the Australian Labor and Liberal politicians. Building a 6 lane motorway through a nature conservation area, koala habitats, sugar cane fields and literally next to hundreds of homes. In a city that already has an 8 lane motorway, ripping it apart, but no bike paths.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FgfxbzBKea8
#GoldCoast #Australia #ClimateChange #CoomeraConnector #SecondM1 #FuckCars
The politicians who came up with the duplication of the M1 motorway idea to "bust congestion" are now realising that it will... cause congestion. Their solution? The usual: build more of it.
It won't work. All local roads will get more car traffic. The new 6-lane motorway will, in about 5-10 years from completion, induce demand for about 120,000 extra car trips per day in Gold Coast. That's a feature, not a bug. You build roads, you get cars.
A video by a young creator about a certain motorway duplication project that fits the "they paved the paradise and built a parking lot" song...
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=AtowYA0fzvc
#CoomeraConnector #SecondM1 #GoldCoast #Queensland #Australia #PublicTransport
I fought against the Coomera Connector / Second M1 and lost. I lost to the Labor Party who pushed this project at the state level and approved it at the federal level despite obvious problems. I lost to people who value the convenience of driving a car over the environment and over the health of people living nearby. To people who believe that duplicating a motorway will "bust congestion".
#GoldCoast #koalas #SecondM1 #CoomeraConnector #GlobalWarming #ecocide
@Sydney_Stations - yep, in Gold Coast some people will protest, on environmental grounds, a tram extension built mostly in the median of a 4 lane highway, but be perfectly fine, or even demand, a new 6-lane motorway, going through koala habitats.
The cost of the ultimate road widening project, the duplication of the M1 motorway in #GoldCoast (the 16 km stage 1 of #CoomeraConnector) has doubled since 2020: from A$1.5B to A$3B (~$2B USD). Half is paid by #Queensland, half by the federal gov.
This road (built in koala habitat) will reduce CO2 emissions and car congestion according to the government. 😞
2024 statement:
https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/99975
2020 statement:
https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/90828
The #CoomeraConnector (#SecondM1) should have never been proposed and approved. It is going to increase car congestion in #GoldCoast.
Some #ActiveTransport design errors:
1. Path only on one side
2. Path on the inside of the noise barrier
3. Ramps instead of tunnels
4. Long detours to get to places on the other side
5. Lack of any connectivity to the other side
6. Motorway right to the edge of homes
7. On-road bike lanes on 60 km/h roads
This block of land near the river in the Gold Coast suburb of Coomera had trees and a new home less than a year ago. It's all gone now. For what? A motorway exit.
#CoomeraConnector #SecondM1 #ClimateCrisis #Australia #GoldCoast #Coomera
Tom Andraszek
