The Iconic Scenic Drive

The Gold Coast City Council wants to close the Esplanade at Surfers Paradise to traffic. Nine thousand cars every day. In their report, they called it a “rat run.”

In doing so, they’ve ignored what this drive really means — to locals, to visitors and to the culture of our city. Here are eight ways the Esplanade brings life to the city that the Council overlooked.

1. It’s our north/south connector

The Esplanade is the road feeding the whole east side of Surfers Paradise. The side that climbed high into the sky so as many people as possible could be close to the beach — the popular side. The Esplanade is their main route. Glorious and practical, it is central to the circulation connecting the leading eastern edge of the city to the rest of Surfers Paradise and beyond. Cut it and Surfers Paradise splits into a north/south divide and traffic, with few other options, jams.

2. It’s our iconic Scenic Drive

Council ascribed no value to the Esplanade as a road. But it’s one of the world’s rarest drives — ocean horizon on one side, glittering skyline on the other. To reduce it to a “rat run” is to completely miss its cultural and scenic value. The Esplanade is a quintessential cultural experience unique to Surfers Paradise. A destination of its own. Council sees the closure as a small change, just 250 metres. But it is not a small change. It stops the flow, flattens the energy, and removes thousands of visitors who would otherwise browse, stop, stay, and spend. Council misread the value of the cruise.

3. It's part of Surfers’ Identity

The Esplanade isn’t background. It’s the moment that defines Surfers Paradise. The arrival, the reveal, the postcard view. Without it, Surfers loses one of the experiences that makes it special, both for locals and for visitors. Nowhere else in the country can you experience driving the very edge of the nation, beside Australia’s tallest buildings with the world’s largest ocean lapping at its edge.

This is Surfers.  

At the core of Surfers Paradise is the idea of freedom. Grab the kids and drive to the beach. The beach is free. The BBQs are free. The road is free. We invented Meter Maids to make parking free. Driving the Esplanade is our free invitation to the world — come on over, the water’s fine.

It’s part of our success and its part of our culture.

4. Central to the Esplanade’s 7-speed Experience Economy

Council claims it wants an “experience economy.” But the Esplanade already delivers an established 7-speed experience economy — beachgoers, passive pedestrians, active pedestrians, markets, diners, motorists, and major events — all layered together, naturally, all day, every day at scale. A north south flowing artery of energy and vitality.

Malling the Esplanade removes a core experience and disrupts the larger flow of the Esplanade culture. It denies visitors the easiest way to be a part of the whole Esplanade while browsing a display of our enviable lifestyles. The Council’s plan to remove cars seems designed to make the Esplanade passive, tame and suburban. That is so not us.

5. Part of the daily life of locals

Six thousand locals drive the Esplanade every day, not to cut corners but to enjoy their lifestyle. It’s how we reconnect with the ocean, show off our town, and feel part of the culture. Council’s report treated this daily joy as traffic — and wrote it off.

6. A showcase for visitors

For tourists, the Esplanade is the moment they know they’ve arrived. For some, it’s their last memory before the flight home. Tour buses, Aquaducks, Go-Cabs — they all use on this drive to showcase Surfers Paradise — to do a drive-by sample of our extraordinary round the clock coastal lifestyle. Council undervalued this powerful lasting impression.

Our best free advertisement.

7. Our impromptu passing parade

Council treated cars as a problem, when in reality they’re part of the show. The Esplanade is a rolling parade of sports cars, vintage classics, hot rods, stretch limos, and tour vehicles — a spectacle for diners, tourists, and kids on the footpath. That living culture was never given value in the reports.

Conclusion

By calling the Esplanade a “rat run,” council dismissed its true value. They overlooked a vital connection, a scenic drive and a shared experience that defines Surfers Paradise. Closing it to cars cuts the artery that runs through the heart of our city.