Don’t tell me that they are now hammering in the nail that the final leg of DSCRL will be a busway connection to Maroochydore and MCY.
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Very poor decision on Stage 3, far away from the walk-up patronage en-route and the only traffic generator on the DSCL alignment between SCUH/Birtinya and Maroochydore is the Mountain Creek Schools & TAFE district. This effectively locks the corridor to a busway which would be very costly to demolish later (if they ever come around).
Surely it would be cheaper to keep the Stage 3 corridor preserved and actually digging/implementing out the SCMTP bus priority lanes alongside the Nicklin Way and Mooloolaba but originating from SCUH bus station at Birtinya. The SCMTP has a higher walk-up patronage being directly in the residential, beaches, and CBDs than Stage 3 DSCL.
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When we met with The Wave project team, we asked why this wasn’t happening. Their justification was for the Olympics the Niclin way will be required for events… so in other words they are locking in a shitty BRT along a preserved corridor because of a 2 week closure in the Olympics. It’s beyond disbelief.
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Doesn’t get any more short sighted than that…
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Just really hope the wave 3 corridor can be converted to HR when cheap BRT ran it course as HR needs the rails and wirong while BRT use less
It just needs to be easily converted FFS
That’s what I have mentioned in the past. Build the overpasses and bridges to rail grade, thus leading to cheaper conversion later.
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May as well make it heavy rail in that case. The rails and overhead equipment are a fraction of the cost for a viaduct capable of supporting the weight of a train. A busway viaduct also requires more space than a heavy rail viaduct, so that would also increase costs.
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Regarding funding for the wave3 - from TMR’s website:
“This project is a planned investment. The Queensland Government has allocated funding towards planning and market readiness for The Wave (Stage 2 and 3). Investment ID: 355742”
There was no money allocated in the budget.
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Sounds like the classic project fate:
Delay. Rename. Review.
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I’m personally hoping for them to cancel The Wave component (as I think if it is built it will be BRT). That way another gov can pick it up and build it HR like it should be.
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Whats the mininum width needed for BRT and HR?
Cauz if they do BRT foundation first (surface instructure only), be good to have width enough for conversion to dual HR and bikewsy in that corridor section…
So far The Wave sounds like BRT in name only without the BRT infrastructure.
If they want to build it quicker they would ignore all ROW components and run the service on the freeway.
The MRI concept plans give the impression that any HR corridor to Maroochydore on the freeway will not be part of the main MRI build, but as an “option”. That corridor is labelled as a HR line not a BRT line.
We have to assume it will be built as an elevated HR line separately post-2032 now, all because of a broken promise. The MRI will be built without the rail corridor.
Building it properly as a HR later, is better than building it as a BRT now and then converting it to HR later.
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The MRI blows the money needed to finish HR to at least Maroochydore and for absolutely nothing.
If all that $$ and people wasted on MRI were focused on HR instead they could get it to Maroochydore.
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I suspect it’s not about cost and rather “The Wave” was for NIMBYs
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The MRI is not needed. It is an over-engineered road monstrosity.
They could just build the rail corridor to Maroochydore if that was their aim, which it isn’t.
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The consultation summary concluded that the NIMBYs wanting buses stems from plans to build a light rail line in SC rather than a heavy rail one.
There was overwhelmingly positive feedback regarding the heavy-rail corridor to Maroochydore; there was no summarised feedback of converting the heavy rail corridor into BRT. Meanwhile, there are certain concerns that light rail would be too much of an expense while BRT could provide the same level of service for cheaper and less impact.
You can read more about the feedback on DSCRL and SCLR in the consultation summary linked below (pages 5 and 7).
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Some very interesting info in here about how developed the planning is for “the wave”…
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I’ve heard there were alignment changes through the new Aura development too which resulted in property resumptions of brand new or under construction homes? Seems ridiculous in a greenfield site.
TMR have just released corridor maps for Stage 1 and 2
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