Photo by courtesy of [Wikipedia] (
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Day by Day Experiences
This morning I rode my motorbike into Southport and had to cross the tram tracks, near Broadwater Parklands (as seen in the photo). As luck would have it, I arrived just as my traffic lights turned red, prepared to wait for the traffic light cycle to complete. Having been through this intersection many times I know roughly what to expect, and roughly what time was needed before I received my green light. As has happened on many occasions, the lights didn't change when anticipated and I immediately suspected the cause. Yes, a tram was on its way, but had, as yet not come into view.
Soon after, as I cast my view to my left I could see a tram coming around the corner and heading downhill towards where I and perhaps more than 10 cars were already waiting. The tram passed and stopped at the station, perhaps 50 meters past my ‘parking’ spot. Still no light change. It seemed I was in luck, and it was all bad. A tram, once again, slowly drifted into sight, this time from the opposite direction, and of course no light change, still.
So yes, we all had to wait for this tram to stop, exchange passengers and slowly meander off, up the hill and away from what was now a cue of 20-30 cars, disappearing around the corner. Easily more than 10 times, with vehicular traffic required to “Give Way” in all instances, and at all times!
Is Patience Really a Virtue?
My point in this lengthy explanation is simple. Those vehicles, waiting behind me were guaranteed a long wait, as there was no way they could all clear this intersection before the lights, once again changed. With trams travelling, on average seven minutes apart, each way, those at the end of the queue likely had to wait for some considerable time, for the full cycle to repeat.
Let me be clear. While this major hold up doesn’t happen every day, it does happen all too frequently. And not just at this location. The tram crisscrosses busy roads many times, in its meandering journey from Helensvale to Broadbeach.
Finally
Consequences of the much-vaunted Gold Coast Tram, and its meanderings through the Gold Coast, have meant that those of us who have to travel near or indeed cross the tracks experience significant time added to our everyday travel. Add to that the impact on those small/ medium-sized businesses, particularly ‘retail’ facing the tracks, one can easily understand why Southport and parts of Surfers Paradise have never recovered.