The speed limit on the Tugun bypass is 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) and provides a high-speed motorway link between the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales, separating interstate vehicles from local traffic.

The New South Wales government had previously been reluctant to go ahead with the project, citing environmental and planning reasons.

In February 2006, former Premier Peter Beattie announced the Commonwealth Government had given final approval for the road, with construction to start the following month.

[3] Beattie said the New South Wales Government imposed additional approval conditions that bumped up the price tag.

The tax-payer bill was now expected to exceed $540 million, and sixteen homes in New South Wales would be demolished to make way for the road.

The Tugun Bypass was intended to be open to traffic on 2 June 2008 but was delayed until important line marking could be carried out at either end of the new road.

The design includes an amphibian fence about 40 centimetres (16 in) in height with an adjacent rock aggregate to suppress vegetation.

The NSW Office of State Revenue issued the bill to the Queensland Government on 6 May, asking for the payment for five years worth of land tax assessments.

The assessments related to sixteen properties in the Tweed Shire bought by the Department of Main Roads from 2001 for the bypass construction.