The first private land sale occurred on Gympie Road near Kedron Brook in 1857. Farms, slaughter yards[2] and tanneries[3] were common sights along Gympie Road prior to World War I.
Cobb and Co coach on Old Gympie Road, crossing Fresh Water Creek, Kallangur, 1890s
In 1922, there was a proposal to build Anzac Avenue as a memorial to those who died in World War I. The memorial avenue was to run from Brisbane CBD to Redcliffe (which, at that time, was not connected to Brisbane by road, only by sea). This proposal would use and rename Gympie Road for the northward part of the route and then extend it eastwards towards Redcliffe. However, in its final form, Anzac Avenue commenced at Petrie rather than Brisbane and so Gympie Road was only renamed from Petrie onwards (which is why Gympie Road terminates at Petrie today). The first segment of Anzac Avenue from Petrie to Kallangur was formerly Gympie Road. However, at Kallangur, Anzac Avenue left Gympie Road to go east, leaving parts of Gympie Road going north through Kallangur to Burpengary disconnected (as a name) from the Brisbane-to-Petrie section. The segment from Kallangur to Burpengary was later renamed Old Gympie Road.
The first integrated shopping mall in Queensland opened on the corner of Gympie Road and Hamilton Road, Chermside in 1957. Originally called the Chermside Drive-in Shopping Centre, it has extended on many occasions and is now Westfield Chermside.
The route was formerly part of the Bruce Highway and carried the designation National Route 1 until the Gateway Bridge opened in 1986. Since then, the route has had the designations of Alt Route 1 and Metroad 3.
Gympie Road has the following interfaces with the Airport Link tunnel:
Northbound carriageway – traffic from either direction exiting the Airport Link can enter Gympie Road about 650 metres north of its southern end.
Southbound carriageway – traffic wishing to proceed in either direction on Airport Link can exit Gympie Road about 500 metres from its southern end.
Southern end (intersection with Kedron Park Road) – traffic proceeding north from Lutwyche Road and wishing to travel east on Airport Link can cross the southbound carriageway under traffic light control and exit Gympie Road at its southern end.
Upgrade
A project to upgrade the intersection with Anzac Avenue and Dayboro Road at Petrie, at a cost of $30 million, was completed in March 2022.[5]
Southern end of Gympie Road (A3) Traffic proceeding north from Lutwyche Road and wishing to travel east on Airport Link can cross the southbound carriageway of Gympie Road under traffic light control and exit at this intersection.
Intersection is on the boundary between Chermside and Aspley, which follows the centre line of Gympie Road to the north-west and that of Murphy Road to the north-east.
5.1
3.2
Webster Road (State Route 27) south – Chermside West / Ellison Road (State Route 27) east – Geebung
Intersection is on the boundary between Chermside and Aspley, which follows the centre line of Gympie Road to the south-east and that of Webster Road to the south.
This intersection allows traffic to exit from the northbound carriageway of the highway to the Sunshine Coast, which becomes Gympie Arterial Road, and to continue to follow Gympie Road. There is no access to either side of the highway at this intersection.
^"Packer and Knox". chermsidedistrict.org.au. Chermside and District Historical Society. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
^"Trams to Chermside". chermsidedistrict.org.au. Chermside and District Historical Society. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
