Ipswich Motorway

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Ipswich Motorway
Queensland
270px
General information
Type Motorway
Length 21 km (13 mi)
Route number(s) <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • M2
  • (Warrego Highway to Logan Motorway)
  • M7
  • (Logan Motorway to Ipswich Road)
Former
route number		 <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Metroad 2
  • National Highway 15
Major junctions
NE end Ipswich Road
Rocklea, Brisbane
  <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
SW end <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Location(s)
Major suburbs / towns Oxley, Darra, Wacol, Gailes, Goodna
Highway system
Highways in Australia
National Highway • Freeways in Australia
Highways in Queensland

The M7 runs from the junction of Ipswich Road and Granard Road to the M2 Logan Motorway interchange. It is then signed M2 until the junction of the Warrego Highway and the Cunningham Highway between Brisbane and Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia.

It initially passes through the suburbs of Rocklea, Oxley and Darra in south west Brisbane before reaching the eastern suburbs of Ipswich such as Redbank Plains, Goodna and Riverview. The Motorway is directly connected to the M5 Centenary Motorway at Darra and the M2 Logan Motorway at Gailes. In 2008, it was estimated that 80,000 cars use the road daily.[1] In late 2010, this figure had risen to close to 100,000 vehicles per day.[2] In 2002, the morning peak traffic volume was greatest between 7:00 am and 8:00 am. By 2008, the morning peak traffic volume peaked between the hours of 5:00 am and 6:00 am.

The motorway was formed from the original Ipswich Road/Cunningham Arterial Road, which was upgraded during the 1980s and 1990s to form a grade-separated motorway-grade route. The Ipswich Motorway was commissioned on 17 May 1994.

Upgrade

In 2003, planning for an upgrade of the entire road began.[3] The road was identified in the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program as one requiring urgent attention. An upgrade was needed to improve safety and relieve traffic congestion.[4]

With the Federal Government funding provided, the upgrades were completed from the Centenary Motorway interchange to the Logan Motorway interchange.

The upgrade from four lanes to six between Wacol and Darra was one of the Australian Labor Party's key 2007 federal election promises.[5] The upgrade included widening the Ipswich Motorway from four to six lanes, transformation of the Centenary Highway Interchange to a free-flowing multi level system interchange and work on adjoining service roads that aims to reduce traffic on the motorway by up to 20%.[1] The Federal government has contributed a total of $3.1 billionn for the upgrade.[4] The Wacol to Darra section of the motorway was officially opened on 18 April 2010.[6]

The eight kilometres upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway between Dinmore and Goodna started in mid-2009. It was completed in 2012 and officially opened on 15 May 2012.[7] The A$1.95 billion project funded by the Australian Government is delivered by the Origin Alliance consisting of the Department of Transport and Main Roads, Abigroup, Seymour Whyte, Fulton Hogan, SMEC and Parsons Brinckerhoff.[8]

The final section to be upgraded is a 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) stretch between Darra and Rocklea with its planning finalised in 2011.[3]

The proposed Goodna Bypass or Northern Bypass of the western section of the M2 was cancelled following the 2007 elections.[5] This 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) section of new Motorway would have taken traffic from the Warrego and Cunningham Highways to the Logan Motorway interchange including four crossings of the Brisbane River.

Interchanges

LGA Location km mi Destinations Notes
Brisbane Rocklea 0 0 Ipswich Road (A7) north / Granard Road (Metroad 2) east – Brisbane CBD, Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast, Brisbane Airport North-eastern terminus: continues as Ipswich Road
1 0.6 Suscatand Street North-eastbound exit and entrance
Randolph Street South-westbound entrance and exit
Oxley 3 1.9 Oxley Road (State Route 35) north / Blunder Road (State Route 35) south – Oxley, Inala Access to frontage roads
4 2.5 Douglas Street north / Rudd Street south – Inala
Darra 5 3.1 Harcourt Road north / Acanthus Street south – Richlands, Darra South-westbound exit and entrance via frontage road
6.5 4.0 Centenary Motorway (M5) – Jindalee, Brisbane, Springfield, Gold Coast No north-eastbound exit to M5 southbound, no south-westbound entrance from M5 northbound
Wacol 9 5.6 Progress Road (State Route 30) east / Wacol Station Road west – Inala, Woodridge, Wacol
10.5 6.5 Brisbane Road – Goodna, Redbank Plains, to Logan Motorway and Queen Street South-westbound exit only
Brisbane–Ipswich boundary Wacol–Gailes boundary 11 7 Logan Motorway – Logan, Gold Coast, Brisbane Airport Route transition: M7 north-eastbound, M2 south-westbound; north-eastbound exit and south-westbound entrance only
Ipswich Goodna 13 8 Church Street (State Route 61) – north to Woogaroo Street; south to Brisbane Road, Queen Street (State Route 61), Mill Street, Smiths Road No south-westbound exit; south-westbound entrance via Brisbane Road
Redbank 16 10 Mine Street north / Collingwood Drive south / Francis Street east – Collingwood Park, Redbank North-eastbound entrance via Francis Street
Riverview 19 12 Warrego Highway (M2) south-west / Cunningham Highway (M15) north-west – Esk, Toowoomba, Warwick South-western terminus: continues as Cunningham Highway; partial Y interchange: no access between Warrego and Cunningham highways

See also

References

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