Inner City Bypass, Brisbane

M3 Inner City Bypass (ICB) is a 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) major motorway standard bypass in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Bypassing the Brisbane central business district to the north, it connects Brisbane’s Pacific Motorway and Go Between Bridge at Hale Street to Kingsford Smith Drive, Legacy Way Tunnel, Clem Jones Tunnel, AirportLink Tunnel and Lutwyche Road following the Exhibition railway line for the majority of its length.

Inner City Bypass Queensland
Inner City Bypass in Brisbane
Inner City Bypass
Coordinates	27°27′11″S 153°01′28″E / 27.45306°S 153.02444°E / -27.45306; 153.02444Coordinates: 27°27′11″S 153°01′28″E / 27.45306°S 153.02444°E / -27.45306; 153.02444
General information
Type	Highway
Length	5.6 km (3.5 mi)^[1]
Route number(s)	M3 Brisbane–Bowen Hills
Major junctions
North end	Albion
South end	Brisbane
Location(s)
Major suburbs	Bowen Hills
Highway system
Highways in Australia National Highway • Freeways in Australia Highways in Queensland

The route is marked as the M3 from the western part of the route, to the Horace Street interchange.

The motorway cost $220m to complete and incorporates a total of six lanes, four tunnels, 18 bridges and was the largest infrastructure engineering project undertaken in Queensland for decades. The route also includes a 350-metre-long (1,150 ft) tunnel under the RNA Showgrounds.

The ICB, built by the Brisbane City Council, is considered one of the most successful road projects in Brisbane, completed well before schedule, on budget, and to date is one of the most used road corridors in the city.

ICB viaduct over the Breakfast Creek

An upgrade to increase the capacity of ICB was completed in 2018. This included widening each direction to four lanes and a new westbound on-ramp from Bowen Bridge Road.^[2] The upgrade was fund and delivered by Transurban Queensland on behalf of Brisbane City Council. Following completion of the upgrade, Transurban Queensland manages the operations, maintenance and incident response along the ICB until 2065, while the road remains toll-free.^[3] Transurban Queensland also does routine maintenance services on a 10 + 10 year contract.

Construction

The Inner City Bypass was built in 3 stages:

• Stage 1 – Hale Street to Campbell Street which opened during November 2001
• Stage 2 – Campbell Street to Abbotsford Road which opened during February 2002
• Stage 3 – Abbotsford Road to Kingsford Smith Drive which opened during July 2002

Exits and interchanges

The road is within the local government area of the City of Brisbane.

Location	km^[1]	mi	Destinations	Notes
Inner City Bypass (Hale Street) turns east on Coronation Drive for Pacific Motorway toward Brisbane, Logan and Gold Coast, west on Coronation Drive for Toowong, or continues south across the Go Between Bridge for South Brisbane.
Milton	0.2	0.12	Milton Road – Brisbane, Toowong, Ipswich	No northbound exit to Brisbane
	0.6	0.37	Caxton Street  – Paddington	Northbound entrance and southbound exit
Paddington	1.2	0.75	Musgrave Road - to   Kelvin Grove Road northbound	No southbound exit
Kelvin Grove	1.3	0.81	Kelvin Grove Road  – Brisbane	Northbound and southbound entrance
	1.6	0.99		Southbound exit only
			Victoria Park Road  – Kelvin Grove	Northbound left-in/left out only
Herston	2.0	1.2	Legacy Way	Northbound entrance and southbound exit
	2.9	1.8	Gilchrist Avenue  – Kelvin Grove, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital, Victoria Park Golf Course	Northbound exit only.
Spring Hill			Bowen Bridge Road Inner Northern Busway	Southbound entrance only from Bowen Bridge Road northbound
Bowen Hills	3.1	1.9	RNA tunnel western end
	3.5	2.2	RNA tunnel eastern end
	3.6	2.2	Lutwyche Road   Airport Link Tunnel – Sunshine Coast, Brisbane Airport
	3.8	2.4	Clem Jones Tunnel  – Gold Coast
	4.7	2.9	Abbotsford Road  – Brisbane	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Albion	5.3	3.3	Sandgate Road  – Sandgate	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	5.6	3.5	Breakfast Creek Road  – Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital
Inner City Bypass becomes Kingsford Smith Drive.
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access       Route transition

Interconnectivity

Although not constructed as part of the TransApex project, the ICB plays an integral part in the connection of tunnels and other urban motorways within Brisbane's Inner city. As a part of this, the Inner City Bypass has been connected to the Airport Link and the Legacy Way tolled tunnels.

The Airport Link was completed in mid-2012^[4] and the Legacy Way in late June 2015.

See also

•  Australian Roads portal

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Inner City Bypass, Brisbane.

• Freeways in Australia
• Freeways in Brisbane

References

1. "Google Maps" (Map). Go Between Bridge, Brisbane City QLD 4000 to Inner City Bypass, Hamilton QLD 4007. Retrieved 17 October 2021.
2. "Agreement Reached on Inner City Bypass Upgrade Project". Listcorp. Transurban. 21 March 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
3. "Brisbane". Transurban. Retrieved 15 October 2021.
4. North-South Bypass Tunnel, Brisbane, Australia Road Traffic Technology.