Coronation Drive, Brisbane
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Coronation Drive, popularly known as Coro Drive, is a road in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
,
Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...
, which connects the
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to the suburb of
Toowong Toowong ( ) is a riverside Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the City of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In the , Toowong had a population of 12,556 people with a median weekly household income of $1,927. Geography Toowong is ...
. It follows the
Brisbane River The Brisbane River (Turrbal language, Turrbal: ) is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia. It flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the ...
from the Riverside Expressway, through the suburbs of Milton and Auchenflower, until it terminates in Toowong at Benson Road and High Street. Coronation Drive is six lanes wide for the majority of its length, with the Bicentennial Bike Path also for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The road is one of the busiest in Brisbane, carrying an average of 75,560 vehicles per day between July and December 2014.


History

Coronation Drive started out as a rough track that developed along the river during the 1840s. It was initially called
Moggill Road Moggill Road is a major road in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It commences at High Street at Toowong and terminates at the Moggill Ferry in Moggill, Queensland, Moggill. It is part of State Route 33. The road carried an average of 39,305 vehi ...
(because it was the road to Moggill), then later (1870s) it became known as the River Road. In 1937 the River Road was renamed Coronation Drive in honour of the coronation of
King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...
, a suggestion made by Archbishop
James Duhig Sir James Duhig KCMG (2 September 187110 April 1965) was an Irish-born Australian Roman Catholic religious leader. He was the Archbishop of Brisbane for 48 years from 1917 until his death in 1965. At the time of his death he was the longest- ...
. On 13 May 1937, the
Governor of Queensland The governor of Queensland is the representative of the monarch, currently King Charles III, in the state of Queensland. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia, governor-general at the national level, the governor Governors of ...
Sir Leslie Wilson planted a small bunya tree on
North Quay, Brisbane North Quay is a location in the Brisbane central business district and the name of a street in the same area, running along the Brisbane River from an intersection near Makerston Street to the top of the Queen Street mall, linking the Victori ...
to mark the name change. Brisbane Lord Mayor
John Beals Chandler Sir John Beals Chandler (21 February 1887 – 19 January 1962), frequently referred to as J. B. Chandler, was the Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1940 to 1952, and the Member for the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, representing the electorate of ...
undertook the improvement and beautification of the road in order to fulfill his vision of a gracious city. Coronation Drive developed as the major transport route for the western suburbs along with Milton Road. A landslide caused by flood waters in 1974 closed Coronation Drive due to cracking and subsidence. The flood caused the redirection of Coronation Drive so that traffic inbound to Brisbane City turned left at the Sylvan Road intersection, and then right down Land Street. In 2004 Coronation Drive was completely redeveloped into its current day form, with the redirection removed and widening to allow 6 lanes of traffic. Former Lord Mayor Jim Soorley inaugurated a series of "tidal flow" traffic lights in both directions, as well as a dedicated bus lane, in order to ease congestion along the road. Upon the election of
Campbell Newman Campbell Kevin Thomas Newman (born 12 August 1963) is an Australian former politician who served as the 38th Premier of Queensland from 26 March 2012 to 14 February 2015. He served as the member for Ashgrove in the Legislative Assembly of Que ...
, the bus lanes were changed to T3 Transit Lanes with three occupants required. In March 2007 the T3 transit lane restrictions were removed after Campbell Newman requested the change based on analysis showing that only 5% of vehicles actually use the T3 lane. The Labor opposition did not block the change. In September 2008, the
Council A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
announced a decision to scrap the Tidal Flow System after conceding it as a failure. This decision was influenced by the construction of the Hale Street Bridge and also the maintenance cost of the system, amounting to $600,000 each year, with a further $7 million in repairs. Instead, 3 permanent lanes will be inbound to the city and 2 lanes outbound. Statistics show that more traffic travels inbound than outbound at both morning and afternoon peak hours.Tony Moore (27 August 2008)
Coro Drive lane system 'a failure'
. Brisbane Times.
One of the inbound lanes will be made into a T2 lane once the Hale Street Bridge project is well developed.


Tidal Flow System

The Coronation Drive Tidal Flow System was implemented in 2002 to improve traffic flow along the routinely congested road. It consisted of overhead gantries displaying white arrows or red crosses to indicate which lanes can be driven in, LED signs on approach that indicated current lanes open, LED catseye markers embedded in the road that were turned on and off to move the median line and boom gates that would swing into the lanes when closed to stop use of the closed lane. The Tidal Flow System was heavily criticised by the public for a number of reasons. These included the perception that the lane system was confusing and caused road accidents, especially when drivers were required to make turns on or off the tidal flow system. Lights in the road meant to guide drivers were often broken and during daylight hours were hard to discern. In particular, the right hand turn from Coronation Drive onto Lang Street (outbound) has two lanes and drivers were routinely confused as to which lane on Lang street they should turn into. The Tidal Flow System was well over budget, with the cost of the system far higher than originally planned. The system was prone to vandalism, in particular the boom gates used to block off lanes were routinely hit by vehicles. Critics claimed that the tidal flow system had not been effective in improving traffic flow. The primary reason given is due to traffic in both directions being high at peak hour due to the
University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...
bound traffic balancing the city bound traffic. The tidal flow system did not close lanes due to traffic accidents or roadworks, instead, traditional vehicles and signage were used, leaving a much touted feature of the system unutilised. Out of state or overseas drivers tended to not understand the system and its dynamic lanes, thus were likely to end up driving in T3/Bus lanes or not merging when they should. The Tidal Flow System was dismantled and removed at the end of 2008 after a decision by the Brisbane City Council. A similar system was operated on the Houghton Highway across Bramble Bay at Redcliffe until the opening of the Ted Smout Memorial Bridge in 2011.


Major intersections and landmarks

* Grey Street / William Jolly Bridge ** Coronation Drive: Coronation Drive retaining wall * Boomerang Street /
Go Between Bridge The Go Between Bridge, formerly known as the Hale Street Link, is a toll bridge for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists over the Brisbane River in inner-city Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The bridge connects Merivale and Cordelia Streets in ...
* Cribb Street ** 249 Coronation Drive: Cook Terrace * Park Road * Graham Street * Lang Parade * Chasely Street ** 451 Coronation Drive: Moorlands * Land Street * Sylvan Road ** 543 Coronation Drive: Regatta Hotel ** 579–583 Coronation Drive: former Toowong Municipal Library Building ** 600 Coronation Drive: Middenbury House * Benson Street The entire road is in the
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
local government area.


See also


References

{{Road infrastructure in Brisbane Roads in Brisbane