A long time ago, Sydney virtually stopped building public transport infrastructure.
When it resumed, retrofitting the city was painful and expensive, according to Bond University urban planning researcher Daniel O’Hare.
“It’s been so much more expensive because they waited,” Dr O’Hare said.
“And very much more disruptive because the city had to grow up without it and they had to retrofit it.”
On the Gold Coast, the rapidly growing city realised it too was headed for gridlock, long before construction began on Sydney’s massive underground metro or light rail projects.
“It was identified we would have gridlock unless we developed some kind of rapid transit system,” Dr O’Hare said.
30-year plan
Light rail was chosen shortly after a 1998 transport plan, using population growth and migration patterns, identified problems.
The city’s population has since doubled and is expected to surge towards a million people by 2040.
This week the final, fourth stage that would see a light rail line run the full length of the Gold Coast’s coastal strip was scrapped by Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie.
A review found the 13-kilometre line to the airport would cost between $5.7 billion and $9.85 billion.
Mr Blejiie also cited a survey detailing the feelings of nearby residents about the project.
Now, similar to another south-east Queensland rail project, the Gold Coast line is expected to terminate at Burleigh Heads with buses servicing the route south to the city’s international airport.
Changing character
Burleigh Pavilion owner Ben May said he was not surprised by the decision, because it had been foreshadowed for months.
But that does not mean he thinks it is ideal.
“The reality is we’re left with a half-finished transport solution,” Mr May said.
“The fact that it was started without a guarantee that it would be finished is absolutely laughable.”
He said swapping between trams and buses was a turn-off for commuters, and an interchange could transform Burleigh Heads.
“No-one wants to live at the end of the line,” he said.
“As someone from Sydney who knows what that looks like — it’s a really poor result.
“Part of the jewel of Burleigh was that it wasn’t Surfers Paradise.”
‘Views remain mixed’
For some who live on the Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise is a dirty word.
There are fears of a concrete canyon stretching south, spurred along by the light rail, as one of many reasons some residents are opposed to the project.
Luxury beachfront apartments rise above Palm Beach which had been largely single storey.
Some say the developments follow a decades-long trend.
“We’re seeing development all through the southern Gold Coast. It’s market driven,” said Coolangatta-based councillor Gail O’Neill.
ABC News
