These Brisbane toll roads are still failing to meet expectations

Brisbane’s toll roads, tunnels and bridges delivered almost $600 million in revenue last financial year for Transurban Queensland.

But usage is still below forecasts on some of Brisbane’s key toll links.

And even when they’re handed back to the state government and Brisbane City Council when concession agreements end between 2051 and 2065, drivers who use them are likely to keep paying tolls.

More than 1500 people signed a petition calling for the government to remove tolls from Brisbane’s tunnels and bridges.

However, Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said if tolls were removed, Transurban Queensland would need to be compensated for outstanding construction costs and future revenue.

“This would equate to many billions of dollars – money that could not be spent on other important infrastructure such as schools, hospitals and roads,” he said in a response provided to the petitioners.

The Newman government sold south-east Queensland’s toll roads to a consortium, including Transurban, for $7.1 billion in 2014.

Mickelberg said tolls were a “user pays” system, where motorists who benefited from toll roads with faster and more reliable travel times contributed to their costs.

“It should be noted that there is always a non-tolled alternative available for Brisbane motorists,” he said.

Mickelberg also pointed to 50¢ fares as an affordable and accessible alternative to driving.

It costs $4.05 to drive over the 280 metre-long Go Between Bridge in a car, $6.50 to use the Clem7, and $7 for Legacy Way.

Most Brisbane tolls will rise again on July 1, in line with the annual Brisbane Consumer Price Index.

It has previously been estimated that using the $338 million Go Between Bridge saved motorists travelling between South Brisbane and Milton up to 15 minutes per trip.

Several of Brisbane’s toll roads still record average daily trips below their opening forecasts, including the Go Between Bridge, which had about 10,000 daily vehicle trips last financial year, similar to its opening volume in 2010.

An early business case predicted the bridge would attract 20,000 vehicles per day, rising to 30,000 in 2021, but this was revised down to an opening daily traffic volume of 12,800 after the “disappointing results” of the Clem7, which former lord mayor Campbell Newman said would have thrived with better promotion.

Under the concession agreements, Transurban Queensland retains toll revenue and is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the infrastructure.

Adding toll roads allows links to be built sooner to meet Brisbane’s growth needs, relieves congestion, and frees up government cash for other projects, according to Brisbane City Council’s submission to a state government inquiry into toll roads held in 2018.

In 2024, the former Labor government was investigating borrowing against a future $34 billion windfall from returning toll roads to the state government from 2051 to pay for the cost of building the proposed Gympie Road bypass tunnel.

It was also revealed the 7km Gympie Road bypass tunnel could cost up to $10 billion.

It was estimated the toll tunnel, from Kedron to Carseldine, could be used by 40,000 vehicles each day, and the tunnel proposal was previously backed by the LNP in opposition.

This masthead asked Mickelberg if the current LNP government would pursue Labor’s funding plan for the Gympie Road tunnel.

The state government was also asked if it would consider extending the length of the concession agreements with Transurban, and whether the government was considering the creation of any new toll roads, tunnels or bridges.

In response, a Transport and Main Roads spokesman said: “The toll road assets are returned to either Brisbane City Council or the Queensland government at no cost to taxpayers at the end of the tolling concession periods.”

The concession period on the Logan Motorway was previously extended from its original 30 years to 63 years, which meant billions of dollars earlier for more lanes, extra kilometres of motorway, and a duplicate bridge.