Brisbane’s Inner City Bypass is to receive a major upgrade in a bid to ease the city’s peak-hour congestion. The Lord Mayor says people who use buses will be the big winners.

Sam Mortimer reports.

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It’s a crucial city artery and its due for an $80 million upgrade.

Plans include a new westbound on-ramp from Bowen Bridge Road, alongside improved entry and exit points for buses.

Graham Quirk, Lord Mayor: “These two things mean not only do we have an improvement in terms of the road connectivity and for traffic, but also importantly some great public transport connections.”

Future plans for a Brisbane Metro system are also being considered.

Surrounding roads will be adapted during the three year construction period.

The Lord Mayor says pending toll price rises on Legacy Way aren’t an issue, with the tollways ultimately providing some much needed capacity for our growing city moving forward.

The Lord Mayor emphasised the fact there will be no lane closures during construction, which should be a relief to motorists.

Queensland’s leading motoring body, RACQ, are also pleased with the announcement.

They say having less people on the roads is always beneficial.

Anna Jeffries, RACQ: “The good thing about it is that they’ll be taking buses outside of the normal flow of traffic, so that’s good news for people who travel on the buses, but it’s also good news for the commuters who don’t have to deal with that in their daily commute.”

The upgrade is due to be finished by 2018.

Sam Mortimer, QUT News.