Preferred concept

The preferred concept provides the best overall balance between functional, ecological, social and economic considerations. It draws on elements from the options displayed in 2005 as well as design suggestions and comments received in council and community submissions.

The preferred concept design for the Banora Point upgrade was announced in September 2006.

The development of the preferred concept has been documented in the Preferred Concept Report which may be downloaded as a PDF file from the Public information section of this website.

Further information on the preferred concept is available in the October 2006 community update. This update is available as a PDF file from the Public information section of this website.

The concept design has been refined in conjunction with the environmental assessment.

Refinements include:

Refinements to the northern interchange:

• Refinement of the Darlington Drive intersection to achieve better integration with the urban environment and a more pedestrian-friendly intersection while maintaining traffic performance.
• Refinement of the northern on-ramp to reduce the interchange footprint and provide space for water quality treatment.
• Widening of Minjungbal Drive extension to two lanes to improve operation and road safety.
• Lengthening of the southbound on-ramp overpass from Minjungbal Drive by approximately 100m to achieve a more desirable urban design outcome.

Refinements to the southern interchange:
The southern interchange has been reconfigured to improve road safety for local and highway traffic. This has been achieved by:

• Replacing the T-intersection with a roundabout.
• Removing the local access road from the southbound on-ramp.
• Providing a two way local access road west of the interchange.

Other design refinements:

• Upgrading of the coastal shared user path to provide improved local connections between Barneys Point bridge and Minjungbal Drive.
• Incorporation of an access road to future residential development land north of Laura Street and east of the upgrade with retaining walls to reduce impacts on lands.
• Lowering of the maximum vertical grade from 5% to 4.5% while still minimising the extent of hard rock excavation.
• Development of a strategy for emergency access in consultation with the emergency services and incorporation of breakdown bays to improve road safety.
• Development of a staging option at both the northern and southern ends of the project.
• Replacement of the seagull intersection at Terranora Road with a fully signalised intersection to provide safe pedestrian facilities and improve road safety.

Further details of the design refinement can be found in the February 2008 community update on the Public information page.