· Gold Coast Highway corridor to be widened by 15 meters through the Burleigh Ridge area and Koala Park, putting the highway right to the kerb and channel of adjacent houses on both sides (Burleigh Heads and Koala Park).
· North bound lanes to relocate within the existing green space (Burleigh Ridge Conservation Park) with construction of retaining walls rising from 1 metre up to 12 meters high, rising from the kerb and channel in Djerral Avenue.
· Light rail tracks/corridor approximately 10 metres wide to be laid through Jellurgal carpark, therefore reducing carparks resulting in overflow to Koala Park residential streets.
· Koala habitat/trees will be lost.
CURRUMBIN HILL
· Impacted by a new light rail bridge running parallel to existing bridge, similar height and profile with the addition of overhead wire infrastructure.
· New bridge will possibly start opposite the Pirate Park in the Currumbin Creek access road (no name road) and begins to grade upwards towards Currumbin Hill.
· This structure will have high negative visual impact on the landscape and remove the vehicle access road and parking to the creek (along no name road).
· Once over the bridge heading south, light rail will veer into the northbound traffic lanes which will create another bottleneck at the top of Currumbin Hill as the Highway will be reduced again to one lane each way.
· Expected traffic gridlock caused by bottleneck.
TALLEBUDGERA CREEK & BRIDGE
· At the Koala Park traffic lights, the light rail tracks will cross over in front of the Jellurgal Cultural Centre and travel through the carpark to Tallebudgera Creek taking out most of the existing car parking.
· The new light rail bridge will be on the east side of the existing bridge and will require a corridor of up to 20 meters to accommodate the light rail track, cycle way, foot path and clearances.
· The new proposed light rail bridge will consume approximately 20 meters of beach and carpark on both sides of the creek
· Overhead power infrastructure will obstruct the mountain views from Echo Beach and Tallebudgera Creek Beach.
· Access to Tallebudgera Creek Beach will be difficult and the amenity of the beach area will be reduced/degraded due to the noise of light rail passing above.
CONSTRUCTION PHASE IMPACTS
· Highway road closures and detours into residential streets.
· Most parking to be removed along the entire length of Gold Coast Highway
· Construction barriers along the route restricting access to residential buildings, dwellings, and beach.
· Restricted access to shops and businesses in the CBD along with no parking.
· Gridlocked traffic throughout Palm Beach during daylight hours.
· Construction vehicles and machinery further impacting the traffic movement and congestion.
· All above impacts will be in place for 2 to 3 years or more.
· Many businesses will not survive and should check their leases and negotiate light rail conditions or relocate.
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