The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) commissioned HDR to undertake an Options Analysis for the 10km long Gympie Road corridor in northern Brisbane. It is one of the most congested corridors in Brisbane, carrying over 75,000 vehicles per day and 60 buses per hour on a six lane arterial road. Traffic and bus patterns are complex with Gympie road serving major traffic generators and attractors.

HDR’s approach included undertaking an evidence-based assessment of the whole route to achieve network balancing and public transport and land use objectives. This ensured that the solutions at individual intersections and short sections of road were compatible with each other and formed pieces of a coherent 10 to 15-year route improvement plan.

The route improvement plan balances bus priority measures and intersection improvements, and allows TMR to implement a sequence of short to medium-term improvements. Transport modelling supported development of the project need and option assessment, to enable development of a robust, defendable, and resilient solution. HDR was also tasked with assessing options to respond to the project need, determining a recommended preferred option through technical analysis and stakeholder engagement, developing a concept design for the preferred option, and proposing a staging plan to break the route improvement plan into manageable packages.