Queensland Roads - M3

M3



SB approaching Exit 11 and Klumpp Rd. WB at that exit. I like how, based on sign age, the M3 patch is lighter than the first sign but darker than the second. I also find it interesting that "To Metroad 2" was patched on, given how long Metroads have been around.


SR 41 (Stewart St.) WB in Woolloongabba. So let's see... patch over Metroad 3 shield, terrible patch over some NR shield that predates 2007, arrow in the wrong spot... that's one sign. Small text, small arrows, giant patch, we've covered the second photo. Extremely useful CMS that mirrors the same message as an overhead static sign, and that's all within one assembly I had to split into 3 photos to cover the level of wrong.


Older SB ramp and mainline signs at that interchange. I guess the M3-M1 combo has been extended over time and so Sydney is slightly closer. Who's really counting?


Heading north into Brisbane from there, I've used skyline photos to frame a faraway look at the Story Bridge.


NB and SB views of the Goodwill Bridge, a pedestrian crossing of the Brisbane River just next to M3.


Looking south from Victoria Bridge at M3 and the ramp to Elizabeth St. The whole Riverside Expwy. has this clean white bridgey vibe.


Views from the Ann St. NB entrance ramp. The spiky contraption that looks like a pack of pick-up sticks was dropped into a basket of sewing thread is the Kurilpa Bridge. Pedestrians only.


Heading north from there, I quickly come to the end of the motorway, but no, there is plenty more motorway to go. Can this sign predate the direct ramp north to Hale St., or is it here because M3 SB doesn't have a direct ramp onto Riverside Expwy. at Coronation Drive/SR 33? Looking left, the nearer arch bridge is the William Jolly Bridge (SR 10) and the farther one is Merivale Bridge (railway).


A southward view of the spiky freak bridge.


NB under the Jolly Bridge, then a more complete view of the Merivale Bridge.


SB from the SR 33 junction, with old arch views of Jolly and new arch views of Merivale. You can see a yellow rail speed limit overhead and some weird pokey pole things in the Brissie background. The M3 patch on the right covers a Metroad 3 shield, which was a highway system eliminated throughout Australia with the advent of alphanumerics - except where QLD still has a pair in Brisbane. Because Queensland. I would find a street name more helpful than "City", since I'm in "City" right now. Also, there are 3 more exits after SR 10 that would still qualify as "City".


Looking east and south from the SR 33 EB connection into M3 SB at Hale St. The Merivale Bridge is in the background, and the Go-Between Bridge is in the foreground. It's a toll bridge that Goes Between Brisbane and South Brisbane, and the idea is to take pressure off the Jolly Bridge and the Victoria Bridge, both of which do not connect to M3 NB (so SB, I guess it depends on your tolerance for traffic).


M3 takes a hard northern turn at SR 33. Here are two Metroad 3 patches for you.


Another patch, Caxton St. EB in the Hale St. section of M3. That's right, a motorway is on a named street. At least in this state, the "M" does mean freeway.


Multiple road works at the northern end of Hale St. As I curve east onto the Inner City Bypass, M3 ducks down from the Kelvin Grove Rd. overpass under the new Inner Northern Busway. Then, in the median, what's now the M5 Legacy Way toll tunnel emerges to merge into M3. The new M5 forms a northwestern bypass of Brisbane and is intended to connect with the tolled M7 tunnels to the north (out to M1) and south (under downtown to merge into M3). Because otherwise, if you stay on M3, you are about to run out of motorway.


The Inner City Bypass tunnels under Bowen Park and the Brisbane Exhibition Grounds, and it will momentarily end into SR 25.

To Metroad 2
Over to the Story Bridge (SR 15)
Up onto Kurilpa Bridge
Up onto SR 10, William Jolly Bridge
See more of Brisbane
Back to Queensland Roads
Back to Roads