The M1 in Brisbane has had speed reductions imposed ahead of the Gold Coast 2018 Games in order to improve traffic flow ©Getty Images

Local drivers are coming to terms with the speed limits imposed yesterday along Queensland's M1, as part of efforts to improve traffic flow during next month's Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.

A day after the limit on the M1 was reduced to 100 kilometres per hour, the Courier-Mail has released a time-lapse video showing the peak hour commute from Brisbane to Gold Coast.

The M1 is a major urban road which connects the Sunshine Coast hinterland to Tugun, near the New South Wales-Queensland border, via three main corridors - the Bruce Highway, the Gateway Motorway and the Pacific Motorway.

The Courier-Mail set up a dash cam and filmed the drive which took 55 minutes from the Clem 7 tunnel to the Southport exit with - for the most part - free flowing traffic.

Billboards along the route testify to the efforts of the organisers to get as many people off the roads before and during the Games as possible, including one which reads "If you can, work from home during the Games".

The Courier-Mail reports numerous motorists exceeding the speed limit - but a significant number also travelling well below it.

The news.com.au site has also reported that many Queenslanders are taking to Facebook to express their thoughts on the speed limitations.

New speed limits are in place for the Commonwealth Games ©Gold Coast 2018
New speed limits are in place for the Commonwealth Games ©Gold Coast 2018

Leanne Collins said the speed changes didn't make the trip any better as hoped.

"Some people were still doing 110 and some weren't even doing 100 as maybe worried about being caught speeding," she said.

Another motorist, Anne-Marie Wilson, said people are going under the 100 allocation due to the "scaremongering" of receiving speeding tickets.

Some drivers, like Huhana Waenga, have told the Courier-Mail the speed reductions improved traffic.

"I [have] just come from Ipswich to Gold Coast, left there at 4.33pm, got home about 5.50pm no problems at all," she said.

"Actually faster than last week where it took me over three hours."

The decision to lower the speed was yesterday backed by a University of Queensland senior lecturer of urban planning and transportation, Dorina Pojani.

"There have been studies recently that show maintaining a certain distance between cars on the road actually improves traffic flow; people think that riding bumper-to-bumper gives them the advantage of an extra inch," she said.

"Lower speeds will make people keep more distance, so that's the science behind it."