Pacific Motorway (Brisbane – Brunswick Heads)

Pacific Motorway Queensland – New South Wales
General information
Type	Motorway
Length	158 km (98 mi)
Route number(s)	M3 Brisbane CBD-Eight Mile Plains M1 Eight Mile Plains - NSW/Qld Border M1 NSW/Qld Border - Brunswick Heads
Former route number	Queensland: Metroad 3 National Route 1 Alternate National Route 1 New South Wales: National Route 1 (1955-2013)
Major junctions
North end	Inner City Bypass
	Gateway Motorway Logan Motorway Gold Coast Highway for full list see exits.
South end	Pacific Highway Brunswick Heads
Location(s)
Major suburbs / towns	Queensland: Rochedale, Loganholme, Beenleigh, Nerang, Mudgeeraba, Tugun New South Wales: Tweed Heads, Banora Point, Chinderah, Brunswick Heads, Tyagarah
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Queensland Highways in New South Wales

The Pacific Motorway is a motorway in Australia between Brisbane, Queensland, and Brunswick Heads, New South Wales through the New South Wales - Queensland border at Tweed Heads.

The motorway starts at Coronation Drive at Milton in Brisbane, and since 2008 connects with the Tweed Heads bypass in New South Wales. The Brisbane city section of the motorway is often referred to by its former name, the Riverside Expressway. The motorway is approximately 150 kilometres (93 mi) long, and features eight traffic lanes with a 110 kilometres per hour (68 mph) speed limit between the M6 Logan Motorway and Smith Street Motorway and generally six or four lanes at 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) on other sections. The motorway passes through the major tourist region of the Gold Coast, the destination for most of the vehicular traffic from Brisbane. More than A$2 billion was spent on the motorway between 1990 and 1998, including widening the road and safety measures.

The motorway passes Gold Coast attractions such as Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet'n'Wild Water World, and Dreamworld, which are among the most popular theme parks in Australia.

There are also plans to progressively widen the four lane section from Nerang to Tugun to six lanes. The first section of this upgrade (Nerang to Varsity Lakes) was completed in May 2012. Planning is ongoing for the remaining section of the upgrade (Varsity Lakes to Tugun).^[1]

The highest point of the motorway is 92 metres on a cutting 130 kilometres (81 mi) south of Brisbane (between Cudgera Creek Rd and Sleepy Hollow Rest Area).^[2]

History

Queensland section

The first section, opened in Brisbane in November 1972, was originally known as the Southeast Freeway.^[3] It included the Riverside Expressway which was designed to alleviate traffic congestion in central Brisbane. The Southeast Freeway was connected to the Pacific Highway at Springwood in 1985.^[3] The Southeast Freeway was designated originally as the F3, but this nomenclature was removed in 1994.

On 15 April 1996 it was announced that the Pacific Highway between the intersection with the Logan Motorway and Nerang would be upgraded to motorway standard.^[4] From the Albert River at Beenleigh to Coombabah Creek at Gaven, about 28 kilometres (17 mi), the road surface is portland cement concrete. The upgraded road was opened to the public in October 2000.^[4]

In March 2006, the Queensland Government released planning for substantial changes to the section between Springwood and Daisy Hill, mainly at the entrances and exits along the section to deal with substantial traffic problems on surrounding streets and traffic backups onto the motorway. The planned upgrade led to some popular protest, mainly by people whose homes would be resumed for the project. Construction of the upgrade commenced in November 2009 and was completed in November 2012.^[5]

The Tugun Bypass was completed in 2008. It has four lanes (two in each direction in 2008 and provision for six lane widening in the future). Widening from four lanes to six lanes is planned for 2025.^[6]

Below is an overview of when each stage of the motorway was completed (from north to south):

• 1960 - Gaven Way. New road connecting Pacific Highway to Nerang, essentially forming the first stage of the Gold Coast bypass route, opened to traffic on 10 December 1960.
• 1961 - Gold Coast Highway interchange. Grade-separated interchange at Gaven Way.
• 1965 - Beenleigh bypass. First carriageway of the Beenleigh bypass opened to traffic in December 1965, followed by the second carriageway in December 1966.^[7]
• 1971 - Coomera River bridge duplication. Second bridge across Coomera River officially opened by Minister for Main Roads Ron Camm on 3 June 1971, completing four lanes between Brisbane and Helensvale.^[8]
• 1973 - Alice Street to Juliette Street. First stage of the South-East Freeway, including the Captain Cook Bridge, officially opened to traffic on 7 March 1973.^[9]
• 1976 - Riverside Expressway. New expressway between Hale Street and Alice Street, mostly constructed on bridges, officially opened on 22 July 1976.^[10]
• 1976 - Nerang to Reedy Creek. Reconstructed and realigned highway along the former rail reserve completed in December 1976.^[11]
• 1977 - Juliette Street to Marshall Road. Second stage of the South-East Freeway opened between Juliette Street and Marshall Road on 27 July 1977.^[12]
• 1979 - Nerang bypass. 2.5 km two-lane bypass of Nerang officially opened by Minister for Main Roads Russ Hinze on 6 April 1979.^[13]
• 1980 - Marshall Road to Klumpp Road. Third stage of the South-East Freeway between Marshall Road and Klumpp Road officially opened on 21 October 1980.^[14]
• 1982 - Klumpp Road to Logan Road. Fourth stage of the South-East Freeway opened between Klumpp Road and Logan Road by Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen on 13 August 1982.^[15]
• 1985 - Reedy Creek to Tugun Extension. Two-lane bypass of West Burleigh opened to traffic in three stages; West Burleigh to Palm Beach in October 1981,^[11] Reedy Creek to West Burleigh in November 1983,^[11] and Palm Beach to Tugun on 17 May 1985.^[16]
• 1985 - Helensvale to Nerang duplication. Four-lane duplication works completed between Gold Coast Highway and Nerang River in June 1985.^[17]
• 1985 - Tweed Heads bypass. Two-lane bypass opened by Minister for Main Roads Russ Hinze on 18 July 1985 at a total cost of A$3.6m; second carriageway completed in December 1986.^[18]
• 1985 - Logan Road to Compton Road. Fifth and final stage of the South-East Freeway officially opened by Russ Hinze on 22 November 1985.^[17]
• 1986 - Logan River bridge duplication. New concrete bridge across Logan River, duplicating the 1968 bridge, officially opened on 16 July 1986.
• Watland Street to Winnetts Road six-laning: September 1994
• 1996 - Winnetts Road to Beenleigh-Redland Bay Road six-laning. Widening to six lanes and a new interchange at Beenleigh-Redland Bay Road completed in December 1996.^[19]
• 1997 - Reedy Creek to Tugun duplication. Duplication to four lanes between Reedy Creek Road and Stewart Road and a southerly extension of Bermuda Street to the highway completed in June 1997.^[20]
• 2000 - Loganholme to Nerang Upgrade (Pacific Motorway Upgrade). 43 km-long six-lane upgrade of the Pacific Motorway, including various interchange and service centre upgrades as well as heralding Queensland's first alphanumeric route number, M1, officially commissioned by Premier Peter Beattie and Minister for Main Roads Steve Bredhauer on 6 October 2000 at a completed cost of A$850m.^[21]
• 2012 - Nerang to Worongary Upgrade. Six-lane widening works between Pappas Way and Gooding Drive completed on 25 May 2012.^[22]
• 2014 - Worongary to Mudgeeraba Upgrade. Six-lane widening works between Gooding Drive and Robina Town Centre Drive completed on 26 September 2014.^[23]

New South Wales section

Banora Point Upgrade on the Pacific Motorway (looking south)

The NSW section of the Pacific Motorway to Brunswick Heads is part of the Pacific Highway upgrade from the Queensland border to Ballina. It was renamed to Pacific Motorway from Pacific Highway in February 2013.^[24][25]

The motorway was first completed in July 1985 with the opening of first stage of Tweed Heads Bypass, followed by the second stage in November 1992.^[26] The most recent addition to the motorway is the Banora Point upgrade which opened in September 2012.^[27]

Below is an overview of when each stage of the motorway was completed (from north to south):

• Tweed Heads Bypass from the now Tugun Bypass to Kennedy Drive: 18 July 1985
• Tweed Heads Bypass from Kennedy Drive to Minjungbal Drive: 14 November 1992
• Banora Point Upgrade: 22 September 2012
• Chinderah bypass (including Barneys Point Bridge): 29 November 1996^[28]
• Yelgun to Chinderah (including Cudgen Road Tunnel): 6 August 2002^[29]
• Brunswick Heads to Yelgun: 11 July 2007^[30]
• Tandys Lane bypass: 19 December 2001^[31]
• Ewingsdale to Tyagarah Realignment: 16 October 1998^[32]

After completion of the St Helena Tunnel in 2015, the Pacific Motorway will be extended southwards along the tunnel and Ballina bypass until the exit to Bruxner Highway.^[33][34]

Travel centres

The Pacific Motorway, when it was upgraded in September 2000, was the first motorway in Queensland to have service centres integrated. There are two service centres, Stapylton servicing southbound traffic, and Coomera servicing northbound traffic. The travel centres include BP and McDonalds as well as other fast-food restaurants, picnic areas and a shop. Solar panels on the roofs of the centres provide power to the facilities.

Speed cameras

There is a fixed speed camera on the Pacific Motorway at Tarragindi, facing northbound. There is another at Loganholme just after the Logan Motorway exit facing northbound.^[35] A third set of speed cameras, situated on the northbound side of the motorway at the Smith Street overpass at Gaven, became active around March 2013.^[36][37]

Speed limits

• Hale Street (CBD) to Herschel Street (CBD) (Riverside Expressway) – 60 km/h
• Herschel Street (CBD) to Elizabeth Street (CBD) (Riverside Expressway) – 70 km/h
• Elizabeth Street (CBD) to Vulture Street, Woolloongabba (Riverside Expressway) – 80 km/h
• Vulture Street, Woolloongabba to Greenslopes – 90 km/h
• Greenslopes to Beenleigh – 100 km/h
• Beenleigh to Gaven – 110 km/h
• Gaven to Chinderah (crossing state border) – 100 km/h
• Chinderah to Teven Interchange – Mostly 110 km/h

Major settlements

M1 Motorway as it passes through the Gold Coast

Gold Coast

Beenleigh to Coolangatta is within the City of Gold Coast. The city has a population of 500,000 and is Australia's sixth-largest city. The oceanside parts of the Gold Coast are characterised by high-rises, residential canal developments, a casino, theme parks, amusement parks and numerous tourist attractions, whilst its inland suburbs are leafy and well kept, looking much like the newer suburbia of other large Australian cities. The Gold Coast attracts tourists from around the world and is one of Australia's leading tourist destinations. Most of the city is bypassed by the Pacific Motorway (M1 Motorway) which continues from Metroad 3 at Logan City south of Brisbane. The former route of the Pacific Highway through the Gold Coast has been renamed as the Gold Coast Highway. The Gold Coast Highway was very congested until the Tugun Bypass opened in June 2008 bypassing a badly traffic snarled section near the Gold Coast Airport.

Tweed Heads

The highway crosses the Tweed River south of Banora Point. Tweed Heads is the major commercial centre of the southern part of the Gold Coast, which extends as far south as Chinderah in New South Wales. It was known as a "twin town" along with Coolangatta, Queensland before they coalesced with other towns to form the suburbia of the Gold Coast. The Tweed River valley contains the Cudgen Road Tunnel completed in 2002. The tunnel was built to avoid the visual impact of a road cutting.

Interchanges

Pacific Motorway
Northbound exits	Exit number	Southbound exits
End Motorway Road continues as Coronation Drive to Indooroopilly	-	Northern Suburbs, Sunshine Coast Hale Street / Inner City Bypass (ICB)
Northern Suburbs, Sunshine Coast Hale Street / Inner City Bypass (ICB)
no exit	-	Skew Street
Herschel Street	-	Southbound traffic use North Quay
Turbot Street	-	Start Motorway
Elizabeth Street	-	Elizabeth Street
Margaret Street	-	Margaret Street
Captain Cook Bridge
South Brisbane Stanley Street	2	South Brisbane Vulture Street
Northern Suburbs, Sunshine Coast Clem Jones Tunnel	4	no exit
Greenslopes Juliette Street	5	Greenslopes Cornwall Street
no exit	8	Tarragindi Marshall Road
Mount Gravatt Gaza Road	9	no exit
no exit	11	Upper Mount Gravatt Klump Road / Mains Road
Eight Mile Plains, Upper Mount Gravatt Logan Road	14	Eight Mile Plains, Upper Mount Gravatt Logan Road
End Start	16	End Start
Sunshine Coast, Brisbane Airport Gateway Motorway		no exit
no exit	19	Rochedale South, Springwood, Underwood Rochedale Road
Springwood, Underwood Logan Road	20	Springwood Old Pacific Highway
no exit	22	Springwood Old Pacific Highway
Daisy Hill, Logan Central Paradise Road	23	Slacks Creek, Logan Central Chatswood Road
Daisy Hill, Loganlea Winnets Road	24	Daisy Hill, Loganlea Loganlea Road
Slacks Creek Nujooloo Road	25	no exit
Shailer Park Old Pacific Highway	26	no exit
Shailer Park, Loganholme Bryants Road	28	Shailer Park, Tanah Merah Bryants Road
Loganholme, Redland Bay, Cleveland Beenleigh — Redland Bay Road	30	Loganholme, Redland Bay, Cleveland Beenleigh — Redland Bay Road
Browns Plains, Ipswich, Toowoomba Logan Motorway	31	Browns Plains, Ipswich, Toowoomba Logan Motorway
Beenleigh City Road	34	Beenleigh, Eagleby City Road
Beenleigh, Eagleby Main Street	35	Beenleigh, Eagleby Main Street
Yatala, Jacobs Well Stapylton — Jacobs Well Road	38	Stapylton, Jacobs Well, Stapylton Travel Centre Stapylton — Jacobs Well Road
Yatala, Ormeau Computer Road	41	Yatala, Ormeau Computer Road
Ormeau, Kingsholme, Norwell Mirambeena Drive	45	Ormeau, Kingsholme, Pimpama Peachey Road
Pimpama, Willow Vale, Jacobs Well Pimpama — Jacobs Well Road	49	Pimpama, Willow Vale, Jacobs Well Pimpama — Jacobs Well Road
Coomera, Upper Coomera, Coomera Travel Centre, Dreamworld Foxwell Road	54	Coomera, Upper Coomera, Dreamworld Foxwell Road
Oxenford, Hope Island, Tamborine Mountain Hope Island Road Tamborine — Oxenford Road	57	Oxenford, Hope Island, Tamborine Mountain Hope Island Road Tamborine — Oxenford Road
Helensvale, Oxenford, Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet'n'Wild Helensvale Road	60	Helensvale, Oxenford, Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet'n'Wild Helensvale Road
Helensvale, Pacific Pines Gold Coast Highway	62	Helensvale, Pacific Pines Gold Coast Highway
Southport, Pacific Pines Sea World Smith Street Motorway	66	Southport, Pacific Pines Sea World Smith Street Motorway
Nerang, Ashmore, Southport Southport — Nerang Road	69	Nerang, Ashmore, Surfers Paradise Southport — Nerang Road
Nerang, Broadbeach, Beaudesert, Murwillumbah Nerang — Broadbeach Road	71	Nerang, Broadbeach, Beaudesert, Murwillumbah Nerang — Broadbeach Road
no exit	71A	Nerang Pappas Way
Nerang, Cararra, Broadbeach Nielsons Road	73	Nerang, Cararra, Broadbeach Nielsons Road
Worongary, Cararra Elysium Road	75	Worongary, Cararra Elysium Road
Worongary, Merrimac, Broadbeach, Tallai Gold Coast — Springbrook Road (Gooding Drive)	77	Worongary, Merrimac, Broadbeach, Tallai Gold Coast — Springbrook Road (Gooding Drive)
Mudgeeraba, Robina, Springbrook Robina Parkway	79	Mudgeeraba, Robina Robina Parkway
Mudgeeraba, Springbrook The Link Way	80	no exit
Robina, Mudgeeraba Somerset Drive	82	Robina, Mudgeeraba Robina Parkway
Burleigh Heads, Reedy Creek, Varsity Lakes Reedy Creek Road	85	Burleigh Heads, Reedy Creek, Varsity Lakes Reedy Creek Road
Burleigh Heads, Reedy Creek, Southport Bermuda Street	87	Burleigh Heads, Reedy Creek Bermuda Street
Burleigh Heads, Tallebudgera Tallebudgera Creek Road	89	Burleigh Heads, Tallebudgera Tallebudgera Creek Road
Palm Beach, Elanora Palm Beach Avenue	92	Palm Beach, Elanora Palm Beach Avenue
Palm Beach, Elanora, Currumbin K.P. McGrath Drive	93	Palm Beach, Elanora, Currumbin Sarawak Avenue
Currumbin, Currumbin Valley Stewart Road	95	Currumbin, Tugun, Coolangatta, Gold Coast Airport Stewart Road To Gold Coast Highway
QUEENSLAND STATE BORDER NEW SOUTH WALES
End Start		End Start
Tunnel under airport runway
Tweed Heads, New South Wales Gold Coast Highway		Tweed Heads, Gold Coast Airport Gold Coast Highway Kennedy Drive
Tweed Heads, New South Wales Kennedy Drive		no exit
Terranora Creek
Banora Point, New South Wales Mingjunbal Drive Sexton Hill Drive		Banora Point, New South Wales Mingjunbal Drive Sexton Hill Drive
Wilsons Park Tunnel
Banora Point, New South Wales Sexton Hill Drive		no exit
Tweed River - Barneys Point Bridge
no exit		Chinderah, New South Wales Chinderah Bay Drive Fingal Road
Chinderah, New South Wales Waugh Street		no exit
Chinderah, New South Wales Chinderah Road Tweed Coast Road		Chinderah, New South Wales Chinderah Road Tweed Coast Road
Chinderah, New South Wales Tweed Valley Way		Chinderah, New South Wales Tweed Valley Way
Cudgen Road Tunnel
Clothiers Creek, New South Wales Clothiers Creek Road		Clothiers Creek, New South Wales Clothiers Creek Road
Cudgera Creek, New South Wales Cudgera Creek Road		Cudgera Creek, New South Wales Cudgera Creek Road
Billinudgel, New South Wales Tweed Valley Way Brunswick Valley Way		Billinudgel, New South Wales Tweed Valley Way Brunswick Valley Way
Billinudgel, New South Wales Wilfred Street		no exit
Brunswick River
Brunswick Heads, New South Wales Old Pacific Highway		Brunswick Heads, New South Wales Old Pacific Highway
Brunswick Heads, New South Wales Old Pacific Highway Gulgan Road		Brunswick Heads, New South Wales Old Pacific Highway Gulgan Road
Brunswick Heads, New South Wales Gulgan Road		Brunswick Heads, New South Wales Gulgan Road
Start Pacific Motorway from Pacific Highway		End Pacific Motorway continues as Pacific Highway to Mayfield West, New South Wales

Notes Exits are numbered progressively from the Brisbane CBD.

See also

• Freeways in Australia
• Freeways in New South Wales
• Freeways in Brisbane
• Freeways in Gold Coast
• M1, Queensland

Route map: Bing / Google

References

External links

• Queensland Department of Main Roads - Pacific Motorway

Road infrastructure in the Gold Coast Motorways: Pacific Motorway (Ewingsdale–Brisbane) (bypass) Smith Street Motorway Highways: Gold Coast Highway Pacific Highway Major roads: Ashmore Road Bermuda Street Bundall Road Ferny Avenue Ferry Road Gooding Drive High Street Nerang - Broadbeach Road Robina Parkway Transport on the Gold Coast

Road infrastructure in regional New South Wales Motorways Hume Motorway Hunter Expressway Pacific Motorway (Brisbane – Brunswick Heads) Pacific Motorway (Sydney–Newcastle) Princes Motorway National highways Barton Highway Federal Highway Hume Highway New England Highway Newell Highway Sturt Highway Highways Barrier Highway Bruxner Highway Carnarvon Highway Castlereagh Highway Cobb Highway Great Western Highway Gwydir Highway Illawarra Highway Kamilaroi Highway Kings Highway Mid-Western Highway Mitchell Highway Monaro Highway Murray Valley Highway Olympic Highway Oxley Highway Pacific Highway Princes Highway Riverina Highway Silver City Highway Snowy Mountains Highway Local highways Alpine Way Appin Road Barry Way Bathurst-Ilford Road Bells Line of Road Bucketts Way Burley Griffin Way Bylong Valley Way Camden Valley Way Castlereagh Highway Central Coast Highway Escort Way Fossickers Way Golden Highway Goldfields Way Goulburn-Oberon Road Henry Lawson Way Irrigation Way Kidman Way Lachlan Valley Way Memorial Drive Newcastle Inner City Bypass Newcastle Link Road O'Connell Road Old Hume Highway Picton Road Princes Highway Putty Road Remembrance Drive Summerland Way Thunderbolts Way Waterfall Way Wombeyan Caves Road Yass Valley Way Bridges Denison Bridge Grafton Bridge Harwood Bridge Hampden Bridge Macleay River Bridge Martin Bridge Mooney Mooney Bridge Nowra Bridge Sea Cliff Bridge Tea Gardens-Hawks Nest Bridge Tunnels Cudgen Road Tunnel St Helena Tunnel Proposals Sydney Bypass

Road infrastructure in Queensland Motorways Airport Link Bruce Highway Clem Jones Tunnel Centenary Motorway Gateway Motorway Inner City Bypass Ipswich Motorway Legacy Way Logan Motorway Pacific Motorway (Brisbane – Brunswick Heads) Port of Brisbane Motorway Smith Street Motorway Sunshine Motorway Western Freeway National highways Barkly Highway Bruce Highway Cunningham Highway Gore Highway Landsborough Highway Leichhardt Highway New England Highway Warrego Highway Highways Balonne Highway Barwon Highway Brisbane Valley Highway Burnett Highway Bunya Highway Capricorn Highway Captain Cook Highway Carnarvon Highway Castlereagh Highway D'Aguilar Highway Dawson Highway Donohue Highway Flinders Highway Gold Coast Highway Gregory Highway Isis Highway Kennedy Highway Leichhardt Highway Mitchell Highway Moonie Highway Mount Lindesay Highway Mulligan Highway Outback Highway Palmerston Highway Peak Downs Highway Wide Bay Highway Developmental roads / Outback tracks Bamaga Road (Telegraph Road) Birdsville Track Burke Developmental Road Bulloo Developmental Road Cooper Developmental Road Diamantina Developmental Road Gregory Developmental Road Gulf Developmental Road Kennedy Developmental Road Peninsula Developmental Road Savannah Way Proposals Bruce Highway Upgrade Mackay Ring Road Toowoomba Second Range Crossing Townsville Ring Road Kenmore Bypass