Coomera Connector

The Coomera Connector, formerly known as the Intra Regional Transport Corridor, is a proposed 45 km motorway that will connect Logan City with the Gold Coast in South East Queensland, Australia. It will run parallel to the M1 Pacific Motorway for its entire length and will run adjacent to the Gold Coast railway line south of Coomera.

The 16 km Stage 1 of the motorway between Nerang and Coomera commenced construction in March 2023 and will be completed in late 2025. The rest of the motorway is currently under planning. As of July 2022 the business case for future stages is due for completion by the end of 2023.

Design
The Coomera Connector is broken up into northern (between and ) and southern (between  and ) sections. The southern section, known as Stage 1, is 16 km long and is further broken up into three sub-sections, to be delivered separately:
 * Stage 1 North: between Shipper Drive at Coomera and Helensvale Road at
 * Stage 1 Central: between Helensvale Road and Smith Street Motorway at
 * Stage 1 South: between Smith Street Motorway and Nerang-Broadbeach Road at Nerang

The motorway is wide enough for six lanes. However, fewer lanes may be built in some sections in the medium-term, depending on transport demand modelling and available construction funding.

The Hope Island railway station of the Gold Coast railway line, which is adjacent to the Coomera Connector, will also be constructed in conjunction with Stage 1.

Planning
Since the 1990s, the Coomera Connector corridor has been identified in various public planning documents and Gold Coast planning schemes. A joint 2015 study between the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) and City of Gold Coast confirmed the corridor as a future strategic transport link that will relieve traffic congestion on the M1 Pacific Motorway. The Coomera Connector was also formally declared a future state-controlled road.

The Stage 1 corridor was gazetted in 2016, while the rest of the corridor (northern section) was gazetted between 2017 and 2019.

The preferred route of the northern section was confirmed in April 2021. Residents along the alignment of the northern section had expressed concerns that there was uncertainty of the timeline on when their properties would be acquired and demolished. residents were also concerned with the impact of the northern section on the Eagleby Wetlands, a flood plain home to birds and reptiles.

Initial community consultation on the Coomera Connector was undertaken in late 2019, with subsequent community consultation of Stage 1 undertaken between 2020 and 2021.

Construction
Early works construction with site investigations were undertaken for Stage 1 in 2021. Main construction began in March 2023.

Funding
The federal and state governments have committed a total of A$1.53 billion on a 50:50 basis to plan and construct Stage 1 of the Coomera Connector. In September 2021, it was reported by media that Stage 1 had a cost blowout of 40% or A$632 million, and the total cost of Stage 1 is A$2.1 billion. The Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey defended the rising cost to have been caused by "an infrastructure boom".

The state government has also committed A$11 million to continue planning for future stages of the Coomera Connector.