Boosting safety and connectivity with major intersection upgrade in Brisbane’s south
At a glance
The Mount Lindesay Arterial Road and Illaweena Street intersection upgrade (known as the Beaudesert Road and Illaweena Street intersection upgrade) is a transformative project that aims to enhance the daily commute for residents in Brisbane’s southern suburbs. This major upgrade is expected to significantly reduce congestion, improve safety for all road users, and provide secure routes for pedestrians and bike riders.
The challenge
Around 46,000 vehicles, including cars, buses and freight, travel through the intersection of Beaudesert Road and Illaweena Street in Brisbane's southern suburb of Calamvale each day. Subsequently, road users regularly experienced long travel delays at the intersection. To add to the challenge, people who walked and bike riders also found it difficult to access schools, shops, and bus stops along Beaudesert Road.
As part of Queensland's Economic Recovery Strategy: Unite and Recover for Queensland Jobs, the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) sought to upgrade the intersection to increase connectivity, accessibility, safety, and network efficiency.
TMR engaged us to help realise its vision of an improved intersection that benefited all road users and impacted stakeholders. Our mission was to undertake the options analysis, business case, detailed design, and construction for the upgrade. The challenge was to find an optimal solution within the constrained brownfield site to increase the level of safety and capacity of the intersection for vehicles, freight, active and public transport users.
Our response
We aimed to improve safety and manage congestion at the intersection through targeted capacity upgrades and additional infrastructure provisions for pedestrian and bike rider movements.
We also had to be cognisant of previous safety planning studies completed for this corridor and the unique project location being adjacent to varying land uses, namely low and medium density properties, an aged care facility located on the south-west corner of the intersection, a commercial precinct on the south-east corner of the intersection and Stretton State College east of the intersection. We worked closely with TMR to find a solution that would:
- Improve the intersection’s operation and efficiency by reducing congestion and delays
- Improve the safety and urban amenity for all road users
- Improve the safety, amenity, and connection for bike riders through additional bike rider provision
- Improve the traffic environment for surrounding residents
- Improve the amenity and environment for the community, school, recreation, and local businesses
- Maximise value for money
Having undertaken community consultation in late 2021, there was great support from the community, with 90 per cent of respondents either in favour of or neutral towards the proposed design. By balancing capacity needs for the arterial road, while also enhancing safety and connectivity for cyclists and pedestrians, the design aimed to accomplish three primary goals: manage congestion, boost safety, and improve accessibility.
To manage congestion, we:
- Widened Beaudesert Road from four to six lanes for approximately 600 metres
- Extended right-turn lanes into Algester Road and Illaweena Street
- Optimised the signal phasing for the revised layout and new pedestrian and bike rider facilities
To boost safety, we:
- Replaced the left-turn slip lanes into Algester Road and Illaweena Street with signalised left-turn lanes
- Designed separate bike rider and pedestrian crossings
- Optimised traffic signal phasing to protect bike riders and pedestrians by providing appropriate head starts
- Provided a forward stop bar and setback crossing areas to increase visibility of bike riders and reduce conflict at the intersection
To improve accessibility, we:
- Provided approximately 1km of off-road shared path along Beaudesert Road
- Replaced the existing stairs on the south-west corner of the intersection with a Disability Discrimination Act 1992 compliant ramp, significantly improving access to the intersection for residents of the adjacent aged-care facility
- Upgraded existing bus stops along Beaudesert Road
- Built a new bus stop on Illaweena Street
The impact
Having collaborated with TMR on the project from conception through to completion, we were able to maintain continuity to accomplish the original vision for an improved intersection that benefits all road users and the surrounding community.
Our partnership also allowed us to engage with the community more directly, moulding the project with stakeholder feedback to better reflect the needs and desires of the people most affected by the changes.
The upgrade is a landmark project, marking the first “fully protected” intersection design on TMR's state-controlled road network in Brisbane. This resulted in:
- Improved safety for all road users through reduced traffic congestion at the intersection
- More secure routes for walkers and bike riders, including a protected intersection, shared pathways, and on-road bike lanes to encourage bike riding
- Enhanced facilities for public transport users with new and upgraded bus stops at the intersection
Despite the challenge of upgrading the intersection without closing it off for public use, we were able to complete the project to the strict budget and program requirements of the Unite and Recover for Queensland Jobs recovery strategy.
The success of the revamped intersection has since led to a continued working relationship between TMR and GHD to improve the remainder of the corridor beyond Beaudesert Road and Illaweena Street.