Pacific Motorway in Queensland, Australia - Gold Coast To Logan City

[@00crashtest]

While including the surrounding vegetation, this resembles a mirror California freeway. However, if just road design is taken into account, it much more accurately resembles a mirrored Mid West or East Coast freeway. The truss structure used in the gantry signs and the continuous presence of street lights is the same as that of the East Coast. It seems like the ONLY difference in design is the use of a white line instead of a yellow line. Basically, it would be a perfect mirror of an East Coast freeway if it were not for the yellow line.

[@FreewayBrent]

Hey there! I read your comment last week, but was extremely busy with work-related stuff and had been coming home very late. Responding now. To be completely honest, many of the overpasses look exactly like carbon-copies of Caltrans-style (California Dept. of Transportation) construction, with the emphasis on concrete structures. In fact, a few of the overpasses look virtually identical to those along Interstate 80 between Fairfield and Vacaville and US 101 in Palo Alto, San Carlos and Belmont in the San Francisco Bay Area...this, along with the circular botts-dots (another Caltrans invention) that help give inattentive drivers a jolt of a warning if they inadvertently drift into adjacent lanes, and even the width and length of the paint striping for the traffic lanes...they're all hallmark Caltrans-style road engineering standards. Caltrans-influenced overpasses are most evident in parts around Sydney, where even the guardrails for the overpasses are exact replicas of the ones Caltrans placed all over the state in the 1960's. You are most definitely right about the overhead signage gantries; definitely some east coast-influences there. All in all, Aussie freeways are pretty much a carbon-copy of US design standards, and in many cases, California-influenced, one of the reasons I love driving around the country. Feels like I'm driving back home around California. Thanks for leaving the long comment...cheers!

[@coover65]

Agree! SoCal is so similar to SE Qld. The freeways are almost mirror image (spend 13 hours on a plane to the US, then drive down I-405 and you're still surrounded by gum trees). And with so many Aussies there, no wonder LA is sometimes called Little Australia!

[@FreewayBrent]

Hey there Trent. Thank you very much for your bit of info! Yes, I have heard of Wilbur Smith & Associates, but had no idea they ever got involved with Australia's freeway planning. Super interesting; will have to look more into this. I also have the drive of the Pacific Motorway into Brisbane's CBD, as well as my new Gateway Bridge & Motorway video, if you want to take a look at those as well. Cheers!

[@Freewayjim]

Nicely done, that road looks like it's built for speed (and traffic) compared to some of the other roads I've seen down there. Top notch production as usual, catchy soundtrack, has a 80's New Wave vibe to it.

[@FreewayBrent]

Thanks, man! It is most definitely built for speed and very safe/modern. It could be signed at 120 km/h - 75 MPH with no issues, IMO. It was much more like the antiquated relic that you saw at the end of the video, before it was completely rebuilt in the late 90's. Too bad it's now suffering from peak hour delays, and weekend congestion (which I experienced first-hand), but the ROW acquired during the late 90's ensures that they can widen it up to 14 lanes in the future. You could definitely think of this freeway as being Australia's version of US 101 between San Jose and San Francisco, or I-95 between DC and Baltimore...basically connecting 2 major cities, spaced fairly far apart (in this case, 50 miles), but still being very much in a single metropolitan area. Guess the Aussie's love their suburban sprawl too, lol.

[@Andreas4696]

Yeah. The Brisbane metro has a very good road network. Very american style, with 6 lane arterial highways dotted with big box stores and fast food restaurants. Suburbs connected to these arterials, and arterials connected to freeways that take you to the office districts and the CBD. Queensland is the most conservative part of Australia, and as conservatives are want to do, they love their cars. I live in Norway and I love my car as well.

[@coover65]

Have a speed limit at 120??? Most Queensland drivers on this stretch of road don't do 90 safely! Tailgaters galore, right lane hogs and drivers who change lanes when it's not necessary. Sure this stretch of freeway is better than German Autobahns (where they have sections of unlimited speeds)-the big difference is the quality of drivers between German and Australian drivers. When Australian authorities implement proper driver training, then yeah 120-130 could be done safely by all.

[@isaacaplin2525]

Wow. I never realised how much I could love a video of seeing my favourite Cities being driven to and fro, I live in Logan City. And the Gold Coast, it's just the best.

[@chrissellick9282]

Nice videos. Please keep making more.Love the info too.

[@FreewayBrent]

Sorry for the late reply...did you get a chance to check out my latest video, showcasing the freeways, bridges and tunnels feeding into and out of Sydney's CBD?

[@lotisoplimo7504]

Wow you drive on the other side of the road? COOL! Greetings from the phillipines🇵🇭

[@prasadnilugal4691]

Just fantastic Sir

[@jessbass9597]

You got a good run! I drive from Varsity into Brisbane and back for work and the traffic is horrendous. Friday afternoons, you are lucky to hit 70km/h at all on the entire stretch. But i'm glad you could enjoy your drive :)

[@FreewayBrent]

Hi there! Yes, I know of the traffic that you mentioned...had a pretty miserable 2 hour and 20 minute run from the Logan Motorway, all the way down south towards Banora Point during the Saturday that I left town to head back to Sydney, back in September 2016. You might be more interested in watching my Pacific Motorway video into Brisbane's CBD, or my new Gateway Bridge & Motorway video. Feel free to check 'em out sometime. Cheers!

[@kittymyers2006]

@@FreewayBrent Sydney is 994 miles from Brisbane.

[@piroskamerk106]

I seen exit 35. This is Beenleigh where I live. Great video!!! You did a excellent job 👍👍🤗🤗🤗🤗

[@realdeal350]

Finally someone made a good quality video of this road :P Great video! :D

[@FreewayBrent]

Thank you! Later in 2017, I'll be working on a central Brisbane freeway tour video, and my Gateway Motorway & Gateway Bridge footage (in both directions, too). I'll be bringing it back to the US for the next video, and then I'll start working on the footage for my Sydney CBD freeway tour video. Lots of stuff to work on!

[@realdeal350]

Sounds great! :D You should also check out Perth's freeway network, it's pretty good however it's quickly expanding! Also, you should check out some more freeways in the Greater Melbourne area, that would be cool. And thanks for the quick reply!

[@FreewayBrent]

Hoping to get out to Perth towards the 2nd quarter of 2017! Have some plans for the footage I want to capture there, although I'll admit that most of it is centered along Western Australia State Route 2 (The Mitchell & Kwinana Freeways), and the Graham Farmer Freeway.

[@realdeal350]

Cool!

[@camerontrickey6057]

I really like you're videos I like all of them!. I hope to see more :), but don't feel that as pressure..But I really love you're videos mate :)

[@FreewayBrent]

Cameron Trickey : Thank you! Did you get a chance to watch my newest release from earlier this week, showcasing the Gateway Bridge and Motorway in Brisbane?

[@JT.4305]

FreewayBrent Please do a video driving on the ipswich moterway or the toowoomba range.

[@diegodaniel227]

thanks greeting from Brazil

[@jmvfrva]

nice nice job on this!

[@geom6886]

This is the firts time I see an Australian Hwy. I enjoy watching your videos. What is the name of the song ? Greetings from Mexico buddy.

[@FreewayBrent]

They look, feel and are pretty much constructed to US standards...even reminiscent of California standards. Song artist is Echosmith, and the song title is "Come Together." For future reference, I always list the song artist/title at the end of every video. Thanks for watching!

[@kittymyers2006]

@@FreewayBrent Are you sure you now live in Oceania?

[@lukew67]

Everyone is so confused between driving on the opposite sides of the road. As someone who lives between Australia and the USA I have no trouble getting in my car in Sydney driving to the airport, flying to the USA, getting off and driving straight into Manhattan on the right for me its second nature. Not as bad as it seems.

[@FreewayBrent]

Yeah, I totally agree with you. I still much prefer driving on the right side of the road, as I have a preference for having physical space on my right side and picking things up like my cup of coffee with my right hand as well. Driving on the left = having a door against my right side, and picking up my morning cup of joe with my clumsy left hand. Minor complaints though.

[@lukew67]

Yeah little things you have to get used to Brent. I prefer the right, USA roads seems wider to me

[@xtremegamer2218]

Yep. But with time, you get used to it. I play this one game (Not sure if you’ve heard about it but it’s called Euro Truck Simulator 2) where it’s based in Europe, so Britain is included in the game also, and over time I’ve gotten used to driving on the left. I still prefer driving on the right, since I live in the US. But it would be like someone from the UK or Australia would prefer driving on the left and would think that driving on the right is strange.

[@thebionicpig]

Almost had a heart attack when I first noticed cars driving to your right the opposite direction....had forgotten your in Australia.

[@FreewayBrent]

Haha. Well, the next video is going to be something pretty special from back here in the US, so no left-side driving confusion for the next video release. Thanks for dropping by and watching!

[@kushantaiidan]

I think this is the only Freeway between to major cities in Australia with 8 lanes. Though the traffic volume of the freeway between Geelong and Melbourne i predict might be higher. Once driving along this freeway, we had extremely heavy tropical rain which ended up being like 100mm in a single say, with some lanes flooding, lots of people going off the roads, it was crazy. Otherwise, is an awesome freeway and a great drive!

[@FreewayBrent]

Yeah, I think you're right. It's a wonderful freeway, indeed...first saw it in pictures when I stumbled upon a picture set on the internet, back in 2005. Looked like a seriously awesome freeway in pictures, but even better and more fun to experience in person. Hope to do it all over again in another year or two from now. I was wondering if flooding is a major issue, even after the rebuild in the late 90's and 2000's to significantly improve the drainage systems during a tropical downpour?

[@kushantaiidan]

Flooding is a worsening issue throughout SE Queensland in the last few years due to the climate going a bit bonkers around here. Like the Toowoomba flash flood and the Brisbane CBD flooding a couple years back. The sheer volume of some downpours I've seen must be able to overwhelm even the best drainage systems, and the folks in Brisbane must know how to design good drainage systems out of necessity.

[@marvinmartinsYT]

Great video. But speed cameras at Smith streets overpass. One near movie world. Another at Yatla. And the Logan motor way overpass.

[@Brand-pn5yz]

It's pretty cool you adjust speed based on the beats of the song.

[@FreewayBrent]

Glad you enjoyed watching!

[@Brand-pn5yz]

@@FreewayBrent yep I did! You speed up when the beats go faster or more intensely.

[@Ronson2k9]

Great video. Love the new logo.. :-D

[@FreewayBrent]

Thanks! People were asking me when I was going to finally create a logo, lol. Seems like people are giving it a universal big thumbs up.

[@EpicThe112]

Nice job brent and for this motorway it sees European and Asian cabover trucks along with American made trucks like Freightliner, PACCAR Kenworth & Peterbuilt since these American made trucks are popular in Australia and common to 110 km/h US Motorways like I-5 in California or I-476 Scranton-Allentown-Philadelphia

[@FreewayBrent]

Thank you! Yeah...this feels very much like a Caltrans-style freeway. Awesome job by Queensland's government.

[@lindsaybrown7357]

Many of the trucks are locally built including Kenworth.

[@EpicThe112]

@@lindsaybrown7357 thanks for telling me some of the models in Australia are also seen in the United States. Some of them still retained the bull bars I live near a Motorway I-78 Allentown, PA area where it's home to Mack Trucks.

[@lindsaybrown7357]

@@EpicThe112 Mostly local derivatives of US or European manufacturers.

[@luvcarsgay]

Wonderful!

[@jameswormsley460]

ohhh yea

[@gde1989]

Great to see another road i frequently drive along, especially now that we'll be going into summer I will be travelling it more often. It is a very good, wide road...though it is often quite congested. I always try to travel along it before the masses do. Did you travel further south along the Tweed heads extension that takes you under the Gold Coast airport runway? Also, into New South Wales where it takes you high above the Tweed River with amazing views of the Pacific Ocean?

[@FreewayBrent]

I definitely experienced that congestion you're talking about...leaving Brisbane on a Saturday afternoon, I sat in mostly stop-and-go traffic from before the Logan Motorway, *all the way down* to Tweed Heads. Took over 2 hrs/15 minutes, when I could have covered that entire stretch in 50 minutes during free-flow conditions. My g/f and I did the road trip from Sydney to Brisbane and back in 6 days. Spent 3 full days in Brisbane. Totally enjoyed it there! Also spent a night and morning in Coolangatta, as well as Byron Bay.

[@SleekDan97]

Oh that's awesome! If you ever do it again in a couple of years, the Pacific Hwy will probably be complete all the way and I bet there'll be some great rural stretches to film. You could even take a brief detour up the Hunter Expressway!

[@FreewayBrent]

Can't come soon enough...those 2 lane construction zones became a bit mind-numbing after awhile! It was interesting, though, to see the progress that New South Wales is making with the twinning of the Pacific Highway. Now...if only they'll ever decide to raise those speed limits to 120 in the rural parts.

[@waynehampson9569]

The New South Wales government is aiming at 2020 for the duplication of the entire Pacific Highway except for the Coffs Harbour bypass and the link from the M1 to Raymond Terrace near Newcastle. It won't be entirely grade-separated though. There are still one or two intersections still to have interchanges built.

[@BadDriversofCentralArkansas]

The guy at 2:39 probably lost his license. 110 km/h limit drops to 80 for the construction, and from the video, it seemed like most drivers maintained speed. If he was going 120 km/h-130 km/h, 40-50 over the limit, he can kiss his license goodbye, especially with Australia's severly negative attitude toward speeding.

[@auscreeperco_7984]

It's a wonderful road, until you reach Robina southbound... then it feels like you are sitting in a carpark for 30mins to an hour trying to get to Cooloongatta. Still waiting for that final upgrade.

[@FreewayBrent]

Yeah, I sat in the same type of traffic on the Saturday that I started heading back towards Sydney. Brutal. FYI, I just released a new video, showcasing the freeways and bridges leading into and out of Sydney's CBD, if you want to check it out. Cheers!

[@PalmyGarbo]

Hey You Check Out The Highway Now It's Like Mudgereeba To Burligh Heads Bad Trffic All Because Of A New Interchange Of Reedy Creek Road And Stapley Drive. They Should Of Done The Three Lanes About At Least Thirty Years Ago.Apparntly They Think It's Gonna Be Finnished 2024. They Are Going To Do Crummbin Later In Life But E95 Has The Brisbane Airport And Gold Coast Highway Exit.

[@thevultrantransituniverse1487]

You now live in Oceania?

[@tomstravelingadventures]

Hi Brent, really enjoy the highway vids. Just wondering, are there roads like this (sealed) around the whole of Australia? Cheers, Tomas

[@FreewayBrent]

Thanks! Nah, the longest stretch of what amounts to at least an uninterrupted 4 lane divided highway (but mostly freeway) will take you on a journey of approximately 2,125 kilometres, from Trawalla, Victoria state (about 160 kilometres or 2 hours west of Melbourne), up to Woondum in Queensland state, about 160 kilometres north of Brisbane. Well, *nearly* all of it is uninterrupted 4 lanes...currently, the A1/M1 in northern New South Wales is having its final 2 lane highway sections upgraded to 4 lane freeway/motorway right now. Otherwise, the great majority of your journey, if you do a circular route around the country will be on 2 lane roads.

[@TransCanadaPhil]

Hi Brent, during your travels are you planning on driving through the heart of Australia to Ayer's Rock Mount Uluru?

[@FreewayBrent]

Too far for me, lol. I get a bit bored, driving relatively straight highways for dozens of hours at a time. Maybe if it were up to freeway or 4 lane divided highway, would I give the drive a chance

[@elrey8876]

Nice video. Just drove back from NSW to Logan City along here this week. • The rush hour traffic just north of where your video ends (Springwood) is an abomination - morning and afternoon. • Don't bother stopping at the famous (infamous?) Yatala Pies - they're terrible.

[@lucindavan-tent968]

Whats the song??

[@PalmyGarbo]

I Had This Weird Question In My Mind That Are You Ever Going To Do A Logan City To Brisbane City And A Crummbin Valley To Gaven?

[@JT.4305]

logan is shit

[@christopherbuckley94]

How long did it take you to get used to driving on the opposite side of the road?

[@FreewayBrent]

Ya know, to be honest, I sort of just picked it up right away. I think watching GoJo Media's Aussie driving videos in advance helped a bit, but I think the ease of transitioning to the other side of the road in Australia's case is tremendously helped by the fact that signage, lane markings and roadway designs are so similar and in some cases identical to the United States. There's a long history of close ties of road building in Australia with assistance/feedback from the US government and US-based engineering firms. Wilbur Smith & Associates in particular (which helped the California Dept. of Transportation with designing a lot of their freeways in the 60's and 70's) had their hands all over freeway designs in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland states; hence why you see so many similar overpass types and guardrails to those found in California.

[@PalmyGarbo]

How did you get all those signs on screen?

[@FreewayBrent]

Hi there. I edit all the signs on a few basic programs, then do some layering to make sure everything is proportional and replicated to the actual sign in place. I throw all my signs onto the Adobe Premiere timeline when editing the video.

[@PalmyGarbo]

@@FreewayBrent you've experienced out garbos nice

[@sarahknell1685]

What was Exit 45 and 41?

[@PalmyGarbo]

Exit 45 Oremou Exit 41 Yalta south

[@Andreas4696]

Do you live in Australia, or did you rent a car on your visit?

[@FreewayBrent]

Oh, I rented a car from Hertz. I live just outside of San Francisco, but I might end up moving to Sydney in a year or two..depends on whether or not my Aussie g/f moves, or I decide to move.

[@BoogsterSU2]

It feels so fucking weird driving on the left side. Also, are you living in Australia right now from the US?

[@FreewayBrent]

Haha, it's actually a lot easier than it looks. I picked it up within a few minutes of first getting behind the wheel, back in January. Nah...my g/f lives in Sydney, so I visit her whenever I can. Living just outside of San Francisco. I grabbed this footage last month, during my 6 days up in Brisbane and South East Queensland. Had a wonderful time there!

[@schwenda3727]

Boogster Su what feels weird is that the fact that underposted limits in both Australia & the U.K. are actually enforced-- STRICTLY & RUTHLESSLY. Us 'Mericans drive at around 100-110 km/h on Downtown interstates posted at 70-90 km/h, 110-130 km/h in suburbs posted at 90-100 km/h & 120-150 in rural areas posted mostly at 110 and most likely get away with it-- on a regular basis.

[@SleekDan97]

Too true. When I was in California last year we were doing 80 in a 65 and still getting passed by a decent amount of people. It was pretty great. Meanwhile back in stone age Australia, you try that and see what happens to your license! We should be thankful that this freeway even gets posted at 110! I'm so glad QLD isn't as nanny state as some other places when it comes to speed limits. (yes I'm looking at you VIC...) M1 from Melb to Geelong is easily safer, more rural and less busy than this road, boring, dead straight and three lanes each way for 50km, but it's stuck at a pathetic 100km/h with covert speed cameras everywhere fining people for 104.

[@samdekker90]

The speed limits and enforcement is an absolute joke in Australia and New Zealand! Here in Perth we have cameras everywhere enforcing 100kmh on big high quality freeways where you could safely do 150 in a modern car. The people are even brainwashed into believing that going over the speed limit makes you an idiot, all this goes on while police and government ignore the real problems on the roads, lack of driver education, lack of lane discipline, lack of courtesy. Coincidentally handing out $100 fines every time someone goes 107 in a 100 zone sure makes them a ton of money though.

[@nasirjones9758]

Well for you people who use British measuring 110km is 68mi so you’ll speed limit sucks

[@coover65]

A guy once asked me how does he get to Logan. I answered lose your job and take up drugs (local SE Qld. joke as Logan is the "Soweto of the area").

[@FreewayBrent]

Ha, good one. Thanks for dropping by and commenting.

[@PikaPika-Tassie]

Coover aboriginal tends to end up there

[@brianevans7486]

Is it just me or is the logan to gold coast highway becoming really corrugated to drive on. Maybe just the vehicle.

[@bradleywash9219]

road work

[@bradleywash9219]

expansion

[@lucindavan-tent968]

I’m from ipswich