Gateway Motorway

The Gateway Motorway (M2 to Eight Mile Plains and M1 to Pine River) is a major tolled motorway in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia which includes the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges (former Gateway Bridge). The motorway is operated by toll road operator Transurban.

It bypasses Brisbane in order to provide easier access between the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. It runs from the M2 Logan Motorway in Drewvale (near Browns Plains) to the Gympie Arterial Road in Bald Hills. At the interchange with the Pacific Motorway at Eight Mile Plains (Pacific Motorway exit 16), its original terminus pre-1997, the route number changes from M2 (Logan Motorway - Pacific Motorway) to M1 (Pacific Motorway - Bruce Highway (Gympie Arterial Road)). The Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges are part of the Gateway Motorway and the Motorway provides access to the Port of Brisbane, Brisbane Airport and Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

Background

The motorway was constructed to connect the then-recently opened Gateway Bridge to the Bruce Highway in the north and the Pacific Motorway in the south. Construction on the road commenced in March 1985 and it was opened to traffic in four stages between August and December 1986.

Originally, the route was called the Gateway Arterial Road because the road was not at motorway status, the road passing through three large roundabouts north of the Brisbane River. Therefore, to cope with the heavy traffic, the government began upgrading the road in 1987. Duplication to four lanes and grade-separation was completed in several stages between 1989 and 1996.

In 1995, construction began on a southern extension to the Logan Motorway, creating the Southern Brisbane Bypass. The road was opened to traffic by Vaughan Johnson, then-Minister for Transport and Main Roads, on 13 May 1997.^[1] Following this work, the road was renamed Gateway Motorway.

In 2007, construction began on the Gateway Upgrade Project, which duplicated the Gateway Bridge, added a deviation between Eagle Farm and Nudgee and upgraded the motorway south of the river. The duplicate Gateway Bridge was opened on 24 May 2010 and both bridges were renamed the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges. The original bridge was refurbished to match the new structure and was finished on 28 November 2010. The northern deviation was routed east from its old alignment (the old alignment is now named Southern Cross Way) and added a second access road, Moreton Drive, to Brisbane Airport. The deviation opened on 19 July 2009 whilst Moreton Drive opened on 3 December 2009. South of the bridges, the motorway was expanded to 9 lanes up to the Wynnum Road interchange, and 8 lanes to the Old Cleveland Road interchange. From that point the motorway is six lanes up to the Pacific Motorway Merge. The upgrades between Lytton Road and Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road were completed on 28 January 2010, while the final stage between Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road and Pacific Motorway (also the final stage of the entire Gateway Motorway Upgrade) was opened to traffic on 30 July 2011.

Upon its original opening, the road did not have a route number. However it gained the Metroad 1 shield in March 1994, before being replaced with M1 in 2005. Manual toll booths were removed and replaced with electronic toll gates (which require vehicles to have a transponder attached to the windscreen) in 2010.

Construction History

• 1986 - Gateway Bridge and associated approach roads (Lytton Road to Airport Drive) officially opened by QLD Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen on 11 January 1986.
• 1986 - Stage 1 Gateway Arterial Road (Airport Drive to Toombul Road). Two-lane arterial road and extension of Toombul Road officially opened by Federal Minister for Transport Peter Morris on 8 August 1986.
• 1986 - Stage 2 Gateway Arterial Road (Depot Road to Bruce Highway). Two-lane arterial road and connections to Deagon Deviation officially opened by Minister for Main Roads and Racing Russ Hinze on 17 October 1986.
• 1986 - Stage 3 Gateway Arterial Road (South-East Freeway to Lytton Road). Two-lane arterial road officially opened by Minister for Main Roads and Racing Russ Hinze on 17 November 1986.
• 1986 - Stage 4 Gateway Arterial Road (Toombul Road to Depot Road). Two-lane arterial road and extension of Bicentennial Road officially opened by Minister for Main Roads and Racing Russ Hinze on 11 December 1986.
• 1989 - Airport Drive to Cannery Drain duplication. Duplication to four lanes officially commissioned by Deputy Premier and Minister for Main Roads Bill Gunn on 26 July 1989.
• 1991 - Cannery Drain to Bicentennial Road duplication and Bulimba Viaduct duplication. Duplication of two sections to four lanes and Nudgee Road interchange concurrently commissioned by Federal Minister for Transport Bob Brown on 19 September 1991.^[2]
• 1992 - Old Cleveland Road interchange. Overpass bridges officially opened by Federal Minister for Transport Bob Brown on 4 February 1992.
• 1992 - Bicentennial Road to Depot Road duplication. Duplication to four lanes commissioned by Federal Minister for Transport Bob Brown on 3 December 1992.
• 1993 - Bicentennial Road interchange. Overpass bridges officially opened by Federal Minister for Transport Bob Brown on 12 February 1993.
• 1993 - Toombul Road interchange. Four-lane overpass bridge officially opened by MP Wayne Swan on 25 October 1993.^[3]
• 1993 - Miles Platting Road to Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road duplication. Duplication to four lanes completed in November 1993.^[4]
• 1995 - Miles Platting Road interchange. Completed January 1995.^[5]
• 1996 - Depot Road to Bruce Highway duplication. Duplication to four lanes and southbound Deagon Deviation overpass completed April 1996.^[6]
• 1997 - Southern Brisbane Bypass (South-East Freeway-Logan Motorway). Southerly extension of Gateway Motorway officially opened by Minister for Main Roads Vaughan Johnson on 13 May 1997.^[7]

Interchanges

The kilometres shown below are subject to change as upgrades to the road are implemented.

The entire motorway is in the City of Brisbane local government area.

Location	km	mi	Exit[lower-alpha 1]	Destinations	Notes
Bald Hills	0– 0.2	0.0– 0.12	127	Bruce Highway (M1) – Caboolture, Sunshine Coast, Cairns	Northern motorway terminus at partial Y interchange: merges with Gympie Arterial Road to continue as Bruce Highway
Bracken Ridge	2.6– 3.9	1.6– 2.4	123	Bracken Ridge Road – to M3, Bracken Ridge, Brighton, Sandgate
	3.9– 5.2	2.4– 3.2	122	Deagon Deviation (State Route 26) – Brighton, Redcliffe	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Deagon	4.9– 5.8	3.0– 3.6	120	Depot Road (State Route 27) – Deagon, Sandgate	No southbound exit
Boondall	6.7	4.2	—	Sandgate Road (State Route 26) – no exit	Northbound entry only
	8.5– 9.3	5.3– 5.8	117	Bicentennial Road – Boondall, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall Wetlands	Roundabout interchange
Nudgee	13.3– 14.6	8.3– 9.1	112	Nudgee Road – Nudgee, Nudgee Beach	Northbound access to Gateway Travel Centre
Brisbane Airport	15.5	9.6	110	Southern Cross Way – to M7, Eagle Farm	Partial Y interchange: no northbound exit to or southbound entrance from Southern Cross Way
	16.9– 18.0	10.5– 11.2	108	Moreton Drive – Brisbane Airport
Eagle Farm	20.8– 20.9	12.9– 13.0	106	Kingsford Smith Drive – Eagle Farm, Hamilton	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	21.2	13.2	105	Southern Cross Way – to M7, Eagle Farm	Partial Y interchange: no southbound exit to or northbound entrance from Southern Cross Way
Brisbane River	22.0– 22.4	13.7– 13.9	Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges (toll bridge)
Murarrie	23.0– 23.1	14.3– 14.4	103	Lytton Road (State Route 24) – Murarrie, Lytton	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	23.1– 24.2	14.4– 15.0	102	Port of Brisbane Motorway (M4) – Port of Brisbane, Murarrie, Lytton
Tingalpa	25.2– 26.6	15.7– 16.5	100	Wynnum Road (State Route 23) – Tingalpa, Cannon Hill, Wynnum, Manly
Belmont	28.3– 30.0	17.6– 18.6	97	Old Cleveland Road (State Route 22), Sleeman Sports Complex	Three-level diamond interchange
Mackenzie–Rochedale boundary	33.4– 34.8	20.8– 21.6	92	Mount Gravatt – Capalaba Road (Metroad 2 west / State Route 21 east) – Mackenzie, Wishart, Capalaba, Mount Gravatt
Rochedale	37.5– 38.5	23.3– 23.9	88	Miles Platting Road (State Route 56) – Eight Mile Plains, Eight Mile Plains busway station, Sunnybank
Rochedale – Eight Mile Plains boundary	38.0– 38.4	23.6– 23.9	87	Pacific Motorway (M1 south-east / M3 north-west) – Logan, Logan Central	Northbound entrance from Pacific Motorway north-westbound and southbound exit to Pacific Motorway south-eastbound only; route transition: Northern end of M2, southern end of M1 allocation
Eight Mile Plains	38.7– 39.4	24.0– 24.5	1	Logan Road (State Route 95) – Underwood, Brisbane
Kuraby	42.5	26.4	Kuraby toll point
Kuraby–Runcorn–Stretton–Karawatha quadripoint	42.3– 42.7	26.3– 26.5	4	Compton Road (State Route 30) – Kuraby, Runcorn	Southbound exit to Compton Road, and northbound entrance via Persse Road
Drewvale	47.9– 48.6	29.8– 30.2	9	Logan Motorway (M2 westbound / M6 eastbound) – Ipswich, Toowoomba, Logan, Gold Coast	Southern terminus at trumpet interchange; Logan Motorway eastbound signed as Exit 9
ETC       Incomplete access

Southern Cross Way

Southern Cross Way is a 7 kilometres (4.3 mi), 4 lane motorway which branches from the Gateway Motorway at Eagle Farm before merging back with it at Nudgee. Prior to 2010, Southern Cross Way formed part of the Gateway Motorway before the Gateway Upgrade Project constructed a shorter route (and additional Brisbane Airport access road, Moreton Drive), between those two suburbs. The old, longer motorway section was preserved, connected to the deviation and renamed Southern Cross Way, after the aircraft flown by aviator Charles Kingford Smith, to allow motorists to distinguish between the routes. Southern Cross Way (also colloquially called the 'Old Gateway Motorway') thus follows the previous alignment of the Gateway Motorway between Eagle Farm and Nudgee and has three exits.^[8]

Interchanges

The entire motorway is in the City of Brisbane local government area.

Location	km[9]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Brisbane Airport	0	0.0	Gateway Motorway (M1) north – to Caboolture, Sunshine Coast, Cairns via Bruce Highway	Northern terminus at partial Y interchange: no southbound exit to or northbound entrance from Gateway Motorway
	1.9	1.2	Toombul Road – Virginia	Roundabout interchange
Brisbane Airport – Hendra boundary	3.5	2.2	East–West Arterial Road (M7) west / Airport Drive east – Nundah, Clayfield, Brisbane Airport
Eagle Farm	5.8– 6.7	3.6– 4.2	Kingsford Smith Drive – Eagle Farm, Hamilton	Northbound exit via Fison Avenue West; southbound exit and entrance via Links Avenue North
	7.6	4.7	Gateway Motorway (M1) south – to Gold Coast, Tweed Heads, Gold Coast Airport via Pacific Motorway	Southern terminus at partial Y interchange: no northbound exit to or southbound entrance from Gateway Motorway
Incomplete access

See also

• Freeways in Brisbane
• M1, Queensland
• Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges

Notes

References