The State Government and Brisbane City Council have settled months of negotiations around the re-positioning of the Cultural Centre station and given the green light for the $944 million Brisbane Metro project to proceed, report brisbanedevelopment.com.

Preliminary works will begin around the Cultural Centre in January 2020 after the parties agreed on a compromise.  The government initially wanted to see the Cultural Centre station positioned under the Convention Centre and more green space around the station. The proposal to move the station underground has agreed to be scraped due to logistical challenges with passenger movements from the above-ground bus station. 

As a compromise, council will now be investigating a tunnel that would take West End to CBD bus routes and bypass the intersection of Melbourne and Grey Streets. This proposed tunnel would allow for a new public square at QPAC, keeping in line with the government’s request for more green space. 

Brisbane City Council Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner never doubted the project would go ahead, it was a matter of when, not if.

“The project will be delivering a new tunnel under Adelaide Street to link North Quay to the King George Square Bus Station.

“We need to plan a desirable entry point into the heart of the city ahead of the high-frequency Brisbane Metro, which is expected to increase passenger numbers to King George Square by 120 per cent,” Cr Schrinner said.

The next step for the project will be the announcement of the contract for the metro vehicles which is expected in the coming weeks. 

Hannah Schuhmann said Brisbane is on the cusp of an incredible transformation, and the CBD is the place to be!CoreLogic-Moody’s Analytics predicting a 5.6% increase in CBD apartment values in 2020, followed by a further 5.8% rise in 2021.