Sunshine Coast - Strategic Vision

[Gazza]

So, Im keen to get Sunshine Coast locals thoughts on this.

The coastal corridor of the Sunshine Coast, south of the River and east of the Bruce has a population of 170,000.

This area has no mass transit running through any suburb, and only a single hi frequency bus route, the 600.

I believe you could stage development of mass transit in these areas as follows:

Stage 1 -By 2027 or sooner, build a rail link to Caloundra, with stations at Aura and Caloundra.
This would link with the 600.
A second express link via Bells Creek Arterial,Kawana Link Road and Kawana Way would act as an interim measure to connect SCUH and the University with heavy rail.
In addition, other local buses would have frequency upgrades to feed these trunks, in particular the 620 from Maroochydore to Noosa.

Stage 2- By the 2032 Olympics, extend Heavy Rail to Kawana, and build light rail from Kawana to Maroochydore.
In the process, the 600 would be reoriented to run west from Kawana to the University.

Beyond 2032, who knows, either extend HR to Maroochy or LR south to Caloundra, depending on your preference.

Thoughts?

[Arnz]

I would suggest running the SCUH service originating from the existing Caloundra Bus Station via Caloundra Rail station, then proceed on Traffic Priority lanes on the Nicklin Way all the way to Bellara Drive, before taking the usual route to the SCUH and onward to USC.  This would largely replace most of the existing (coverage aligned) 607 service with a near direct service from Caloundra.

The southern half of the existing coverage 607 service (between SCUH and Caloundra) could be merged into the 609 service to link the local Caloundra Hospital and SCUH together.  This part of the existing 607 route (now combined with the 609) would be truncated at SCUH.  The frequency will remain as is (30 mins weekdays, hourly on weekends).

As for Aura, I would recommend a Aura Station to Kawana Shoppingworld via SCUH (from Kawana Link) and Nicklin Way.  Serve as a local and feeder service at the same time.

[Stillwater]

These issues are being progressed within Sunshine Coast Council.

Here is an overview of the Sunshine Coast Mass Transit project:

https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Council/Planning-and-Projects/Major-Regional-Projects/Sunshine-Coast-Mass-Transit-Project/Project-overview

Here is the council's future transport plan:

https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Council/Planning-and-Projects/Major-Regional-Projects/Sunshine-Coast-Mass-Transit-Project/Future-Transport-Plan

Here are the options under active consideration:

https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Council/Planning-and-Projects/Major-Regional-Projects/Sunshine-Coast-Mass-Transit-Project/Mass-Transit-Options

Also, the Sunshine Coast Council has been on the planning journey for mass transit since 2011. The documents listed below are relevant to this journey. Community consultation has been a feature of the preparation of most of these documents.

A Line in the Sand (2012)
Route Planning and Impact Assessment (2013)
Shaping Our Future (2014)
Environment and Liveability Strategy (2017)
Route Options Brochure (2014)
Route Options Consultation Report (2015)
Urban Transformations Paper (2017)
Integrated Transport Strategy (2019)
Strategic Business Case (2019)
Community Consultation (2019)
Options Analysis (2020)
Detailed Business Case (in 2022)

Check out the document library:

https://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/Council/Planning-and-Projects/Major-Regional-Projects/Sunshine-Coast-Mass-Transit-Project/Document-Library

[Stillwater]

The Draft Business Case has this order of priority:

1. The coastal northern sector of the Sunshine Coast Urban Corridor between Maroochydore and Kawana.
Investing here as a priority provides the strongest basis for achieving key policy goals of supporting urban consolidation and employment growth and managing congestion. Since it contains the major employment and business growth centres of the region, this area provides the greatest opportunity to build a connected, lifestyle community with diverse housing and employment choices, all linked by local mass transit.

2. The growth corridor between Kawana and Beerwah, which includes the inland southern sector of the preserved mass transit corridor known as "CAMCOS".
This southern sector of CAMCOS contains significant planned residential and employment growth. Mass transit investment here will link this growth area to Kawana and
Maroochydore and also link to the North Coast Railway at Beerwah for service to Brisbane. This southern sector of the CAMCOS corridor should represent a high priority for mass transit investment once connectivity between Maroochydore and Kawana is achieved.

3.The coastal southern sector of the Sunshine Coast Urban Corridor from Kawana to Caloundra.
This sector provides integrated land use and transport opportunities, and connections from Caloundra to the regional rail services to Brisbane. This is an important area for ongoing urban transformation that should be progressed as soon as possible after completion of the priorities described in points (1) and (2) above.

4. The central sector of CAMCOS from Maroochydore to Kawana.
This sector offers the opportunity to provide a direct rapid transit connection between Maroochydore and the major urban growth communities on the southern
perimeter of the Sunshine Coast region, as well connecting the Maroochydore City Centre to Brisbane. The option of this connection should therefore be kept open as a long-term priority.

5. The northern sector of CAMCOS from Maroochydore to the Sunshine Coast Airport.
Development of mass transit here would connect the growing Sunshine Coast Airport to its local southern catchment, through the Maroochydore City Centre. This will support interstate and overseas air connections to underpin the region's ongoing development success. Initially this connection can be provided by a dedicated limited stops bus service to Maroochydore similar to the TransLink 777 service that operates on the Gold Coast. A dedicated fixed track mass transit connection would be a long-term priority.