Construction began in April 2007 on the UQ Lakes to Buranda section with it opening on 3 August 2009. The UQ Lakes to Buranda section of the busway was built under an alliance with Thiess, Sinclair Knight Merz and the Department of Transport and Main Roads. It included a tunnel built under the old Boggo Road Gaol. Tunnelling was done with a Voest-Alpine Industrieanlagenbau AM105 roadheader machine. A second tunnel passes under the Pacific Motorway to connect with the South East Busway at Buranda.