Brisbane North BUG attended a TMR briefing to discuss the upcoming upgrades to Gateway Motorway and Bruce Highway with particular emphasis on the cycling and active transport changes along the area where work will occur. In short there will be a “bicycle highway” starting at Dohles Rocks Road and extending to Barfoot Street at Bracken Ridge along the northern side of the motorway. This will be a shared path, however access will be limited owing to running beside the motorway. This will cross the Pine River and provides a safe route for commuters from Murrumba Downs/North Lakes. Extending this path further north was discussed, however that is out of scope for the current works.

Around the Barfoot Street and St John Fisher school area at Bracken Ridge (the Bracken Ridge bend) there will be extensive changes with wider paths, new tunnels, multiple crossing options to connect the existing path with all of the new infrastructure. It’s going to be great, but it will take a long time to get the work done.

Additionally, there will be big changes at Wyampa Road with the current overpass eliminated and access to Tinchi Tamba now direct from the new bike path. A further path will lead under the motorway to the Canterbury Park area giving cyclists easy access to the northern bike path for the first time. A lot of thought has gone into the design providing as much connectivity and safe access as possible.

During this time there will be detours in place in particular around the Bracken Ridge bend. TMR stated that bike path detours would mostly be long term given the scale of works and they will be keeping the community informed of any changes.

Quoting from the TMR newsletter:

First stage – Gateway to Bruce Upgrade (G2BU) This stage combines the delivery of the Gateway Motorway, Bracken Ridge to Pine River upgrade and the Bruce Highway (Brisbane – Gympie), Gateway Motorway to Dohles Rocks Road upgrade (Stage 1). Construction is expected to commence late 2026, subject to environmental approvals.

Next stage – Bruce Highway, Gateway Motorway to Dohles Rocks Road upgrade (BGD) (Stage 2) This stage includes constructing collector-distributor roads on either side of the Bruce Highway that link Dohles Rocks Road with the Gateway Motorway and Gympie Arterial Road including two new bridges over the Pine River. This project is currently in the design phase, with delivery subject to further project development, site investigations and consideration.