Ipswich Motorway

Ipswich Motorway
Route information
Length:	21 km (13 mi)
History:	Formerly
Allocation:	M7 / M2
Major junctions
Northeast end:	Warrego Hwy Cunningham Hwy Riverview, Ipswich
	Logan Motorway Centenary Mwy Granard Road
Southwest end:	Ipswich Road Rocklea, Brisbane
Location
Primary destinations:	Oxley, Darra, Wacol, Gailes, Goodna
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Queensland

The M7 runs from the junction of Ipswich Road and Granard Road to the M2 Logan Motorway interchange. It is then signed M2 until the junction of the Warrego Highway and the Cunningham Highway between Brisbane and Ipswich in South East Queensland, Australia.

It initially passes through the suburbs of Rocklea, Oxley and Darra in south west Brisbane before reaching the eastern suburbs of Ipswich such as Redbank Plains, Goodna and Riverview. The Motorway is directly connected to the M5 Centenary Motorway at Darra and the M2 Logan Motorway at Gailes. In 2008, it was estimated that 80,000 cars use the road daily. In late 2010, this figure had risen to close to 100,000 vehicles per day. In 2002, the morning peak traffic volume was greatest between 7:00 am and 8:00 am. By 2008, the morning peak traffic volume peaked between the hours of 5:00 am and 6:00 am.

Upgrade

In 2003, planning for an upgrade of the entire road began. The road was identified in the South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program as one requiring urgent attention. An upgrade was needed to improve safety and relieve traffic congestion.

With the Federal Government funding provided, the upgrades were completed from the Centenary Motorway interchange to the Logan Motorway interchange.

The upgrade from four lanes to six between Wacol and Darra was one of the Australian Labor Party's key 2007 federal election promises. The upgrade included widening the Ipswich Motorway from four to six lanes, transformation of the Centenary Highway Interchange to a free-flowing multi level system interchange and work on adjoining service roads that aims to reduce traffic on the motorway by up to 20%. The Federal government has contributed a total of $3.1 billionn for the upgrade. The Wacol to Darra section of the motorway was officially opened on 18 April 2010.

The eight kilometres upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway between Dinmore and Goodna started in mid 2009 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2012. The AU$1.95 billion project funded by the Australian Government is delivered by the Origin Alliance consisting of the Department of Transport and Main Roads, Abigroup, Seymour Whyte, Fulton Hogan, SMEC and Parsons Brinckerhoff.

The final section to be upgraded is a 7 km stretch between Darra and Rocklea with its planning finalised in 2011.

The proposed Goodna Bypass or Northern Bypass of the western section of the M2 was cancelled following the 2007 elections. This 7 km section of new Motorway would have taken traffic from the Warrego and Cunningham Highways to the Logan Motorway interchange including four crossings of the Brisbane River.

Exits and Interchanges

Ipswich Motorway
Northeastbound exits	Distance to Brisbane (km)	Distance to Ipswich (km)	Southwestbound exits
End Ipswich Motorway continues as Ipswich Road to Rocklea / Woolloongabba	--	29	Start Ipswich Motorway continues from Ipswich Road
Mount Gravatt, Capalaba Granard Road	--	28.5	Mount Gravatt, Capalaba Granard Road
Suscatand Street	--	28	Randolph Street
Oxley, Inala Oxley Road / Blunder Road	--	26.5	Inala, Oxley Blunder Road / Oxley Road
			Rudd Street
Richlands, Darra Harcourt Road	--	24	Richlands, Darra Acanthus Street via Ipswich Service Road
Jindalee, Brisbane Centenary Motorway	17	23	Springfield, Gold Coast, Jindalee Garden Road / Centenary Motorway
Vehicle Inspection Centre
Arthur Gorrie Remand & Reception Centre	18	22	no exit
no exit	20	20	Inala, Woodridge Progress Road
			Wacol Wacol Station Road
			Campbell Avenue
Inala, Woodridge Progress Road	20.5	19.5	no exit
Wacol Wacol Station Road
Akenside Street
no exit	21.5	18.5	Vehicle Inspection Centre
continues as	22	18	Logan Central, Gold Coast Logan Motorway
			Gailes Viking Drive
			End continues as
Logan Central, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast Logan Motorway	22.5	17.5	Redbank Plains, Goodna Queen Street via Brisbane Road (No access from Logan Motorway merge)
			Bertha Street (No access from Logan Motorway merge)
no exit	25	15	Stuart Street
Service Centre	26	14	Chalk Street
no exit	27	13	Collingwood Park, Redbank Collingwood Drive
Redbank, Collingwood Park Mine Street	27.5	12.5	Fox Street
Redbank Brisbane Road	28	12	no exit
no exit	28.5	11.5	Brisbane Road
Riverview, Moggill McEwan Street	29	11	Riverview, Moggill McEwan Street
Start Ipswich Motorway continues from Cunningham Highway and Warrego Highway	30	10	Toowoomba, Charleville, Mount Isa, Melbourne, Darwin Warrego Highway
			End Ipswich Motorway continues as Cunningham Highway to Ipswich / Warwick / Tenterfield / Sydney

See also

• Freeways in Australia
• Freeways in Brisbane
• Road transport in Brisbane