A billion in funding but nothing’s happening. What’s up?
Supposedly scheduled to be complete before the 2032 Olympics, before the addendum was added, this project has been in the spotlight for a while.
Significant local support from residents, MPs and councillors alike but it really doesn’t seem the State Government wants to move a budge ever since they have completed the business case over 2 years ago in 2024. It’s further frustrating that congestion is continuing to worsen and impact not just private vehicle users on the highway but local vehicle users and buses like the 555, 569 and 581.
Brent Mickelberg has recently issued a statement, blaming the previous Labor government for their failure to progress the project after the business class was complete in 2024, but he hasn’t outlined any action for the future completion of the project other than the addition of an addendum relating to potential cost blowouts.
Additionally, while I’m not confirming whether the current or previous governments have been pork barrelling, if you compare the economical benefits and costs of the DH2LM project compared to The Wave, you can see that the BCR of The Wave is significantly lower than DH2LM. In the IA evaluation of The Wave, they note that low ridership of the line could become problematic for the economic viability of the project. You can make up your own discussion on how things worked out for their voters in the Sunshine Coast.
DH2LM is being pegged to the Coomera Connector Future Stages project, with the extension to Logan Motorway. The IA evaluation makes note of the bottleneck and congestion shifting south near Beenleigh, however, it does not account for reduced car usage as a result of the busway extension and active transport links. This is just adding further complications to a temporary problem that will ultimately be resolved by the time Coomera Connector hooks up with the Logan Motorway.
DH2LM is just the final piece of the puzzle for Logan Residents and the tens of thousands of new users per day expected to use the corridor over the next decade. I would also like to reiterate I’m not making a specific point here about whether this project should go ahead, and the political climate behind it, but feel free to discuss it here. I look forward to what you have to say about this
Seems like TMR is putting the project on pause for the moment, which is a real shame because the business case was completed in 2023 (I note back to Brent Mickleberg’s statement about Labor being indecisive about the project).
Its a cool project though. Three new busway stations from Springwood to Loganholme, and extension of the V1 Veloway. Hopefully it doesn’t carry dust, like Stage 3 Ipswich Bus Upgrades.
I see the merits of Loganlea road busway station (direct arterial road access to Loganlea train station), but Chatswood Road seems a bit dubious to me.
I’m intrigued about the Beenleigh-Redland Bay Road station, though, as this might foreshadow a future upgrade of route 282 (Hyperdome to Victoria Point).
Aside from the potentiwl walk up catchment at Chatswood Rd, it opens up the possibility for John Paul College students to transfer from other services there to get to school. That isn’t its primary aim I’m sure, but it is a nice benefit.
I already have something in the mix to fix the 560 and 562 and plenty of other Logan routes as well. One of the things is increasing the 560s frequency to every 15 minutes in peak, as well as every 30 minutes for the 562. However, in Translinks tabled documents from the 2000s they had highlighted how important cross-link routes like the 550 and 560 are in Logan, so when the busway comes along, they’ll know how to improve these connections and improve service quality as a whole.
This just seems like the normal fate of a large Queensland Government transport project.
It is not unusual for any of the following to happen:
Project is proposed
Project is delayed
Project is renamed
Business case has to be done
Business case has to be re-done again (due to the old one becoming out of date)
Funding or project particulars contested with level of government above and/or below
Project review before start or just after starting
Another project review about half way
Yet another review just before or after finishing it
Basic project details withheld stating that “its too early to determine” (such as service frequency, time saved, etc). Or declare basic details commercial-in-confidence or cabinet-in-confidence.
Project scope is reduced dramatically
Project is terminated by incoming government
Project is resurrected under a new name
Project is recancelled and re-resurrected under a second new name
Project costs double
Project turns into a bus
The reality is that any project that relies on Priority A ROW or corridor, whether that be PT or not, is going to face major project cost escalations and delays. In recent decades this could be solved by increasing the project budget, but I suspect even that measure is not not really practicable any more.
Northern Busway, Gympie Road Tunnel, North-West Transit Corridor, Brisbane Subway etc…this is why service-based upgrades which require little or no new infrastructure are a key focus area.
Also, could 580 service Edenlea Dr in both directions, once the new Loganlea Station opens, i.e. will there be a bus turnaround facility there?
Maybe 580, as the shortest route, could serve Kilsay Cr, and the 562 and 560 continue on the existing route, as I don’t want to make either even longer.
I don’t really think it’s needed. Every time I took the 560 not many people used the stops along those roads, and, it’s not a long walk. Also, those roundabouts will absolutely tank the average speed.
The 580 just needs a rework. It doesn’t stop at Ikea, and it doesn’t really serve much.
The 580 is essentially an extension of the old 582, the depot isn’t far from Loganlea station so it’s doing a revenue run where previously it was simply dead running, it may become more important and used once the Metro is extended and the new relocated Loganlea station opens, in fact you can tell that it’s set up to take into account the relocation of Loganlea station.
Also, the stop at IKEA can only be accessed in one direction, hence why the 552 can pop in and pop out before backtracking to continue its route. It cannot be accessed by the 580 in the outbound direction, and the road to that stop is one way only with no access to the outbound lane, so it won’t be happening.
Honestly I don’t think there will be any changes to the current Logan network until the Logan to Gold Coast Faster Rail Project is complete. If the Metro gets extended, then I would suspect the 555 would get removed and those resources redirected in upgrading the crosstown Logan routes.
I predict the 555 would still remain, but via Slacks Creek as per the busway extension. It may replace the 553 to Beenleigh. Removing the 555 would inconvenience the significant amount of users in Loganholme; the 572 takes twice as long as the 555 would. In terms of double up, nothing hurts making it express .
