A ten year $90 million road upgrade for one of Redlands’ main north-south connection routes will be considered by Redland City Council at its meeting on Wednesday.
The estimated cost of upgrading sections of Panorama Drive and Wellington Street from two to four lanes may shed light on plans and pre-election promises for doing similar work to Cleveland-Redland Bay Road, a responsibility of the State Government.
Panorama Drive and Wellington Street road upgrade
On the Council’s agenda for Wednesday is a proposal to upgrade Panorama Drive / Wellington Street in Thornlands between Boundary Road and South Street as the first stage of a three stage works program.
This first stage is expected to cost $31 million, inclusive of property resumptions and operational costs.
Funding for this Council controlled road upgrade is expected to include $15 million contributed by the Federal Government, a pork barrel promise made by the LNP before the May 2019 Federal election.
Other funding for Stage 1 will come from developers’ contributions for trunk infrastructure upgrades and possibly from State Government grants for new cycleway infrastructure.
Cost estimates for road upgrade works
Very high level cost estimates are included in the officers’ report
| Road upgrade section | Distance (kms) | Cost |
| Stage 1 Boundary Road to South Street | 2.3 | $31m |
| Stages 2 & 3 South Street to Russell Street | 2.0 | $59m |
| Total for stages 1 to 3 | 4.3 | $90 |
The estimated costs range from $13.5 million/km for Stage 1 to $29.5 million/km for Stages 2 and 3 which may have greater requirements for relocation of infrastructure services such as water supply and sewerage.
The method and accuracy of cost estimates for the Council’s proposed spending are not discussed in the officers’ report.
Also, there’s no mention in the officers’ report of any cost benefit analysis being undertaken for the Panorama Drive / Wellington Street road upgrade.
Cost benefit analysis is a standard method for ensuring that major infrastructure projects deliver value for money. The State Government uses a publicly available Cost Benefit Analysis Manual to help determine its road spending priorities.
Environmental impacts of road upgrade works
According to the officers’ report, the road widening project will require clearing of an unspecified number of koala habitat trees and result in increased risk of “fauna mortality”.
To mitigate the risk of increased road kill, the Council is proposing to install “fauna-friendly underpasses and associated fauna exclusion fencing” at the two main fauna crossing points in the road upgrade project scope.
The locations of the main fauna crossings and the areas where koala trees will be cleared are not disclosed in the officers’ report.
Cleveland-Redland Bay Road
The Council’s plan to upgrade 4.3 kilometres of Panorama Drive and Wellington Street for an estimated $90 million can be compared with plans and promises to upgrade about 5.2 kilometres of Cleveland-Redland Bay Road which is a State Government responsibility.
The current state of Cleveland-Redland Bay Road is the result of modifying what used to be a semi-rural two lane road in a piecemeal way over the past two decades, mostly to accommodate road links to residential subdivisions and other developments built on land flanking the highway.
Factors influencing the cost of upgrading two lanes to four lanes in developed areas include the need to relocate services such as water, sewerage, power and telecommunications.
In places, there is a significant level difference across the road reserve which may require split level carriageways and retaining walls.
Much of the road upgrade work may have to be done at night time to reduce traffic disruption during busy day time periods.
| Cleveland-Redland Bay Road 2 lane sections | Distance (kms) |
| South St to Ziegenfusz Road Rd (Thornlands) | 1.74 |
| Dinwoodie Rd to Beveridge Road (Thornlands) | 1.30 |
| Magnolia Parade to Benfer Road (Victoria Point) | 0.80 |
| Benfer Road to Anita Street (Victoria Point) | 0.74 |
| Anita Street to Boundary Street (Redland Bay) | 0.66 |
| Total | 5.24 |
Plans and election promises to fix this road
In 2019 the State Labor Government budgeted $37 million to upgrade 800 metres of this road in Victoria Point, from Magnolia Parade to Benfer Road.
Currently, the State Government says it is working on a $60 million package of works which will include upgrading the Anita Street intersection (work is to start soon) and duplicating the road from Anita Street north (with the planning phase now under way).
It’s not clear, at present, if all of the 1.5 kilometer stretch north from Anita Street to Magnolia Parade will be upgraded as part of the Government’s $60 million project.
The LNP promises, if it wins the 31 October State Election, it will spend a total of $100 million (an additional $40 million) upgrading Cleveland-Redland Bay Road to four lanes all the way from South Street in Thornlands to Boundary Road (the northern entry to Redland Bay).
The total upgrade distance promised by the LNP is about 5.3 kilometres – an average cost of about $19 million per kilometre.
The LNP has not disclosed how it has estimated that $100 million would be sufficient to deliver its promised road upgrade.
Labor MP for the seat of Redlands Kim Richards has questioned the adequacy of the LNP’s cost estimate, saying in Parliament recently that it is estimated to cost closer to $200 million to dual-lane this road from Thornlands to Redland Bay.
Any voters wanting four lanes delivered on Cleveland-Redland Bay Road should ask Labor and LNP candidates to clarify their plans and promises as the devil is in the details.
Shown below are Google Earth images of the two lane sections of Cleveland-Redland Bay Road between South Street in Thornlands and the Boundary Street entry to Redland Bay.
Redlands2030 – 31 August 2020
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One Comment
Road construction costing by the LNP seems to be a Trumpian like “brave” and unlikely process… pick a figure and promise all will be delivered. Misleading election promises are worse than none! Listening to the rhetoric is one thing but $$ without proper costings are useless pie in the sky rhetoric!