Gateway Motorway

Gateway Motorway Queensland
M1: Bald Hills to Eight Mile Plains M2: Eight Mile Plains to Drewvale
Length	48 km (30 mi)
Direction	North-South
From	Bruce Highway Bald Hills, Brisbane
Major settlements	Nudgee, Eagle Farm, Belmont, Eight Mile Plains
To	Logan Motorway, Drewvale, Brisbane
Allocation	Bald Hills to Eight Mile Plains Eight Mile Plains to Drewvale
Major junctions	Gympie Arterial Road Deagon Deviation Port of Brisbane Motorway Mount Gravatt - Capalaba Road Pacific Motorway for full list see exits.

The Gateway Motorway (M2 to Eight Mile Plains and M1 to Pine River) is a major motorway in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges (former Gateway Bridge) are owned and operated by Queensland Motorways.

It bypasses Brisbane in order to provide easier access between the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast. It runs from the M2 Logan Motorway in Drewvale (near Browns Plains) to the Gympie Arterial Road in Bald Hills. At the interchange with the Pacific Motorway at Eight Mile Plains (Pacific Motorway exit 16), its original terminus pre-1997, the route number changes from M2 (Logan Motorway - Pacific Motorway) to M1 (Pacific Motorway - Bruce Highway (Gympie Arterial Road)). The Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges are part of the Gateway Motorway and the Motorway provides access to the Port of Brisbane, Brisbane Airport and Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

Originally, the route was called the Gateway Arterial Road because the road was not at motorway status, the road passing through three large roundabouts north of the Brisbane River. Therefore, to cope with the heavy traffic, the government began upgrading the road in 1987. In 1990, bridges were constructed over the East-West Arterial Road (and the newly-opened Airport Drive) at Hendra, and by 1991 the motorway was four lanes from Eight Mile Plains to Bracken Ridge. The final upgrade to four lanes between Bracken Ridge and Bald Hills was completed in early 1996.

In 1995, construction began on a southern extension to the Logan Motorway, creating the Southern Brisbane Bypass. The road was opened to traffic by the Hon. Vaughan Johnson, then-Minister for Transport and Main Roads, on 13 May 1997.

On 17 February 2005, the Minister for Transport and Main Roads announced the $1.6 billion Gateway Upgrade Project, which would see a new Gateway Bridge constructed alongside the original one, a deviation between Eagle Farm and Nudgee, and upgrades south of the river. Construction began in early 2007.

The new Gateway Bridge (both renamed Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges) opened on 24 May 2010 with 4 lanes open. The remaining 2 lanes opened on 15 August 2010. The existing bridge was refurbished to match the new structure and work was completed on 28 November 2010. North of the bridge the motorway was routed further east from its current placement and an additional access road, Moreton Drive, was opened which provides motorway standard access direct to the Domestic Terminal at Brisbane Airport (with exits to the International Terminal). The deviation opened on 19 July 2009, followed by Moreton Drive on 3 December 2009.

The old motorway was renamed Southern Cross Way in November 2010. Manual toll booths were removed and replaced with electronic toll gates (which require vehicles to have a transponder attached to the windscreen).

South of the bridges, the motorway has been expanded to 9 lanes up to the Wynnum Road interchange, and 8 lanes to the Old Cleveland Road interchange. From that point the motorway is six lanes up to the Pacific Motorway Merge. The upgrades between Lytton Road and Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road were completed on 28 January 2010, while the final stage between Mount Gravatt-Capalaba Road and Pacific Motorway (also the final stage of the entire Gateway Motorway Upgrade) was opened to traffic on 30 July 2011.

Upon its original opening, the road did not have a route number. However it gained the Metroad 1 shield in March 1994, before being replaced with M1 in 2005.

Exits

Gateway Motorway
Northbound exits	Exit numbers (distance from NSW Border)	Southbound exits
Merge with Gympie Arterial Road continues as Bruce Highway to Caboolture, Sunshine Coast, Cairns	127	Start Gateway Motorway continues from Bruce Highway
Bracken Ridge, to Bracken Ridge Road	123	Bracken Ridge, Brighton, Sandgate Bracken Ridge Road
Brighton, Redcliffe Deagon Deviation	122	no exit
Deagon, Sandgate Depot Road	120	no exit
Boondall, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall Wetlands Bicentennial Road	117	Boondall, Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Boondall Wetlands Bicentennial Road
Nudgee, Nudgee Beach, Gateway Travel Centre Nudgee Road	112	Nudgee, Nudgee Beach Nudgee Road
no exit	110	Eagle Fam, Brisbane City Southern Cross Way
Brisbane Airport Moreton Drive	108	Brisbane Airport Moreton Drive
Eagle Farm, Hamilton Kingsford Smith Drive	106	no exit
Brisbane City Southern Cross Way	105	no exit
Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges (toll bridge)
Murarrie, Lytton, Port of Brisbane Port of Brisbane Motorway	103	Murarrie, Lytton Lytton Road
no exit	102	Port of Brisbane Port of Brisbane Motorway
Tingalpa, Cannon Hill, Wynnum, Manly Wynnum Road	100	Tingalpa, Cannon Hill, Wynnum, Manly Wynnum Road
Carindale, Sleeman Sports Complex, Capalaba, Cleveland Old Cleveland Road	97	Carindale, Sleeman Sports Complex, Capalaba, Cleveland Old Cleveland Road
Mackenzie, Wishart, Capalaba, Mount Gravatt Mount Gravatt - Capalaba Road	92	Mackenzie, Wishart, Capalaba, Mount Gravatt Mount Gravatt - Capalaba Road
Eight Mile Plains, Eight Mile Plains busway station, Sunnybank Miles Platting Road	88	Eight Mile Plains, Eight Mile Plains busway station, Sunnybank Miles Platting Road
no exit	87	Logan, Logan Central Pacific Motorway
End Start	Exit numbers (distance from M1/M2 junction, Eight Mile Plains)	End Start
Underwood, City Logan Road	1	Underwood, City Logan Road
TOLL
no exit	4	Kuraby, Runcorn Compton Road
no exit	9	Logan, Gold Coast Logan Motorway
Start Gateway Motorway continues from Logan Motorway		Merge with Logan Motorway continues as Logan Motorway to Ipswich, Toowoomba

Notes

Distances are approximate and rounded. Measured to ends of the Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges.

See also

• Freeways in Brisbane
• M1, Queensland
• Sir Leo Hielscher Bridges