Olympic Swimming Venue Included in Roma Street Approval

Plans for the Roma Street Cross River Rail Priority Development Area have been approved to include a new indoor arena to host swimming and water polo at the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games.

Deputy Premier Steven Miles said the plan would provide “exciting opportunities” for the future of the area and would also include more parkland, and a mix of social and affordable housing to a maximum height of 12 storeys.

“Hosting the 2032 Games will mean a 10-year pipeline of construction jobs, trade and investment opportunities, and legacy projects that will benefit Queenslanders for decades to come,” Miles said.

“The Roma Street precinct will include a new indoor arena, as well as more publicly accessible open space for people to enjoy.”

An additional 2ha of public space will be added to the Roma Street Parklands along with new residential buildings along Parkland Boulevard, which would include a mix of social and affordable housing.

Cycling and pedestrian paths would connect to the Olympic indoor arena next to the heritage former Roma Street Railway Station, which has been earmarked for adaptive reuse.

Queensland minister for transport and main roads Mark Bailey said the precinct would be an integral part of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games with the delivery of an indoor arena for swimming and water polo events.

It was originally pitched as the Brisbane Live arena, a 17,000-seat entertainment venue pegged for Brisbane's CBD.

The Cross River Rail underground station is expected to serve 46,000 daily commuters and will connect to bus services to create the state’s busiest transport hub.

Tunnel-boring machines are close to breaking through at Roma Street with underground blasting currently under way to excavate in preparation.

A ministerial spokesman confirmed the first tunnel boring machine, Else, was expected to break through in the next week, while the second, Merle, was expected five or six weeks later.

“The huge underground cavern for Cross River Rail’s new Roma Street station is almost fully excavated,” Bailey said.

“Crews have been working up to 33m below ground to excavate the 280m-long cavern.

“More than 130 workers have been involved in this part of the Cross River Rail job, getting the site ready for the arrival of the project’s ... tunnel-boring which are currently making their way beneath the CBD.”

The Roma Street Cross River Rail PDA covers about 32ha as a gateway to the city centre.

It also includes provisions for a new public plaza beside the new Cross River Rail station building.

When complete, the $5.4-billion rail project will include a 10.2km rail line from Dutton Park to Bowen Hills, including 5.9km of tunnel under the Brisbane River and city centre.