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, The Brisbane city section of the motorway is often referred to by its former name, the Riverside Expressway. The motorway is about long, and features eight traffic lanes with a speed limit between the M6 Logan Motorway at Loganholme and State Route 10 Smith Street Motorway at Gaven and generally six or four lanes at on other sections.
The motorway then passes through the major tourist region of the Gold Coast, the destination for most of the vehicular traffic from Brisbane. It passes attractions such as Warner Bros. Movie World, Wet'n'Wild Water World at Oxenford, and Dreamworld theme parks in Coomera. Within Queensland, more than a $2 billion was spent on the motorway between 1990 and 1998, including widening the road and safety measures.
The motorway then crosses the Queensland/New South Wales border via a section known as the Tugun Bypass, which passes under the runway of Gold Coast Airport. Since 2013, a portion of Pacific Highway south of the border was also designated M1 Pacific Motorway.
The highest point of the motorway is on a cutting south of Brisbane (between Cudgera Creek Rd and Sleepy Hollow Rest Area).
History
Queensland section
The Pacific Highway between Brisbane and the New South Wales border was originally called the Main South Coast Road. It was one of the first roads to be declared by the Main Roads Board, which was created in 1920. The Albert River at Beenleigh and the Nerang River at Southport were the first major watercourses to be bridged. Both of these bridges opened in 1925. In 1928, a major realignment between Helensvale and Southport, including a timber bridge over the South Coast railway line and a concrete bridge over Coombabah Creek at Arundel, was completed. This road is now the northern section of the Gold Coast Highway, between Helensvale and Loders Creek in Labrador.
In June 1930, the Coomera River bridge opened, and in December of that year, the Pacific Highway was declared. By then, some sections were already sealed. The final bridge over a major watercourse, the Logan River bridge, opened in July 1931. The Coomera River bridge still carries a service road between Coomera and Helensvale, and the Logan River bridge between Loganholme and Eagleby carried highway traffic until 1986. It is now a pedestrian bridge.
The sealing of the highway was completed in late 1937, when the bridge over the Pimpama River at Ormeau was completed. Below is a list of the bridges over the smaller watercourses, and when they were completed:
Bulimba Creek (Eight Mile Plains) – mid 1929 Sandy Creek (Stapylton) – early 1935 Halfway Creek (Stapylton) – mid 1939 Pimpama River (Ormeau) – late 1937 Hotham Creek (Pimpama) – late 1929 Oaky Creek (Coomera) – mid 1935 Saltwater Creek (Helensvale) – early 1931 Coombabah Creek (Arundel) – early 1928
Of these, the bridges over Bulimba Creek, Sandy Creek, Halfway Creek, Pimpama River and Saltwater Creek replaced older bridges. The bridge over Coombabah Creek at Arundel was built as part of the realignment between Helensvale and Southport. It is unclear if there were older bridges over Hotham and Oaky Creeks; the bridges may have replaced fords, but it is also possible that there are simply no known records for the older bridges, if they existed.
In the 1950s, traffic congestion began to become a serious problem on the highway, a problem that has plagued it ever since. To reduce this, the highway from its northern terminus to Helensvale was duplicated gradually, until the final section between Coomera and Oxenford was completed in 1971.
In 1965, Wilbur Smith's freeway plan was produced, calling for the construction of eight freeways and four expressways connecting Brisbane to the outer suburbs. The highway from its northern terminus to Springwood was to be supplemented by the South East Freeway, which was designated as the F3. The first section of the freeway was opened in March 1973. It ran from the CBD south to Greenslopes. Over the next decade, the freeway was extended southwards, and the Pacific Highway at Springwood was reached in 1985.
On 15 April 1996 it was announced that the Pacific Highway between the Beenleigh-Redland Bay Road interchange at Loganholme, and Pappas Way at Nerang, would be upgraded to motorway standard. From the Albert River at Beenleigh to Coombabah Creek at Gaven, about , the road surface is portland cement concrete. The upgraded road was opened to the public in October 2000. At the same time, the South-East Freeway, and the Pacific Highway between Springwood and Loganholme, was renamed as the Pacific Motorway.
Below is an overview of when each construction project on the highway (later motorway) was completed (from earliest to latest).
1956–1958 – Stapylton deviation. New 2-lane highway constructed to bypass a rail-over-road bridge with low clearance that was approached by sharp curves on either end. 1959–1960 – Gaven Way. New road connecting the Pacific Highway at Helensvale to Nerang, essentially forming the first stage of the Gold Coast bypass route, opened to traffic on 10 December 1960. 1961–1962 – Helensvale duplication. New 4-lane highway constructed between just south of the Oxenford turnoff and the Gaven Way turnoff at Helensvale, including two new concrete bridges over Saltwater Creek to replace the existing bridge, and a flyover at Gaven Way. 1963–1964 – The highway between Burnside Road at Stapylton & Goldmine Road at Ormeau was duplicated. This project included a second bridge over Halfway Creek, a second culvert at Bridge Creek, and upgrades to the intersections at either end. 1965 – Second carriageway between Loganlea Road and Bryants Road opened.Department of Main Roads Annual Report 1964–1965 1966 – Second carriageway between Dennis Road and Loganlea Road, and from Bryants Road to Loganholme opened.Department of Main Roads Annual Report 1965–1966 1964–1966 – Beenleigh bypass. First carriageway of the Beenleigh bypass opened to traffic in December 1965, followed by the second carriageway in December 1966. The bypass stretched from just south of the Logan River bridge at Eagleby to just north of Burnside Road, Stapylton. 1966 – Pimpama to Coomera upgrade (southern end of future Pimpama bypass to Foxwell Road). 1966–1967 – Ormeau duplication. Highway duplicated from Goldmine Road at Ormeau to Mirambeena Drive at Pimpama including a short deviation, and new twin bridges over Pimpama Creek (now called the Pimpama River). The old highway is now called Tillyroen Road. 1967 – Second carriageway between Kingston Road and Dennis Road opened.Department of Main Roads Annual Report 1966–1967 1967–1968 – Logan River bridge duplication. Second bridge across the Logan River from Loganholme to Eagleby officially opened by Minister for Main Roads Ron Camm on 25 May 1968. 1968–1969 – Pimpama duplication. Duplication from Mirambeena Drive to just north of Hotham Creek. 1969–1970 – Coomera Deviation. long deviation from Days Road to Reserve Road. 1970–1971 – Pimpama Bypass. long four lane bypass of Pimpama, including a new bridge over Hotham Creek at its northern end. 1970–1971 – Coomera River bridge duplication. Second bridge across the Coomera River between Coomera and Oxenford officially opened by Minister for Main Roads Ron Camm on 3 June 1971, completing four lanes between Brisbane and Helensvale.Department of Main Roads Annual Report 1970–1971 1971–1973 – Alice Street to Juliette Street. First stage of the South-East Freeway between the Brisbane CBD and Greenslopes officially opened to traffic on 7 March 1973.Department of Main Roads Annual Report 1972–1973 1973–1976 – Nerang to Reedy Creek. Reconstructed and realigned highway along the former rail reserve, started in 1973, completed in December 1976.Queensland Roads, December 1981 1977 – Slacks Creek to Daisy Hill deviation. Northbound carriageway realigned onto a straighter alignment paralleling the southbound carriageway. Village Drive intersection at Daisy Hill which provided access to Loganlea Road was also upgraded. Opened in March or April 1977. 1976–1977 – Juliette Street to Marshall Road. Second stage of the South-East Freeway opened between Juliette Street at Greenslopes and Marshall Road at Holland Park West on 27 July 1977.Department of Main Roads Annual Report 1977–1978 1978–1979 – Nerang bypass. two-lane bypass of Nerang officially opened by Minister for Main Roads Russ Hinze on 6 April 1979.Department of Main Roads Annual Report 1978–1979 1979 – Watland Street overpass at Springwood opened on 25 September 1979, the intersections at Dennis Road and Brennan Street were removed at the same time.Department of Main Roads Annual Report 1979–1980 1980 – Marshall Road to Klumpp Road. Third stage of the South-East Freeway between Marshall Road Holland Park West and Klumpp Road Upper Mount Gravatt officially opened on 21 October 1980.Department of Main Roads Annual Report 1980–1981 1981 – Loganlea Road Overpass. New interchange built at Loganlea Road to replace the Village Drive intersection at Daisy Hill, which was closed after the overpass opened. 1982 – Klumpp Road to Logan Road. Fourth stage of the South-East Freeway opened between Klumpp Road at Upper Mount Gravatt and Logan Road at Eight Mile Plains by Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen on 13 August 1982.Queensland Roads, December 1982 1983 – Bryants Road interchange. This interchange eliminated a dangerous at-grade intersection. At the same time, all remaining at-grade intersections between Loganlea Road at Daisy Hill and Beenleigh-Redland Bay Road at Loganholme were closed and either replaced with left-in/left-out on/off-ramps or closed altogether. 1984 – Oxenford/Helensvale Interchanges. Two new interchanges completed at Hope Island Road/Tamborine-Oxenford Road at Oxenford and at Helensvale Road at Helensvale in October 1984.Department of Main Roads Annual Report 1984–1985 1981–1985 – 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, Reedy Creek to West Burleigh in November 1983, and Palm Beach to Tugun in May 1985. 1984–1985 – Helensvale to Nerang duplication. Four-lane duplication works completed between Gold Coast Highway and Nerang-Broadbeach Road in June 1985.Department of Main Roads Annual Report 1985–1986 1985–1986 – Tweed Heads bypass. Two-lane bypass between Bilinga and Tweed Heads West in New South Wales was opened by Minister for Main Roads and Racing Russ Hinze on 18 July 1985 at a total cost of A$3.6m; second carriageway completed in December 1986.Queensland Roads, July 1987 1985 – Logan Road to Compton Road. Fifth and final stage of the South-East Freeway from Eight Mile Plains to Springwood was officially opened by Minister for Main Roads and Racing Russ Hinze on 22 November 1985. 1986 – Logan River bridge duplication. New concrete bridge across Logan River between Loganholme and Eagleby, duplicating the 1968 bridge, officially opened by Minister for Main Roads and Racing Russ Hinze on 16 July 1986. 1987 – Mudgeeraba Interchange. Half-diamond interchange at Mudgeeraba Road opened by Minister for Main Roads and Racing Russ Hinze on 21 August 1987. 1987 – Coomera Interchange. Interchange opened by Deputy Premier and Minister for Main Roads Bill Gunn on 10 December 1987.Queensland Roads, July 1988 Much like the later interchanges further up north, it had a very short life of only 11 years. 1985–1987 – Smith Street Motorway. New motorway connection road opened to connect Southport to the Pacific Highway at Gaven. A new interchange was built with the Pacific Highway at Gaven as part of the project. The opening date was 20 May 1987.