It looks like one of the first major projects to be “postponed” due to the floods will be the proposed cross river rail project, the subway that was to put new rail stations into the lower CBD, Woolloongabba and other key inner city locations.
When the government first flagged this in 2008 we pricked our ears up – property owners near those locations could see a major improvement in their values as the commute times around the CBD improve. Now the possible 2016 completion has been harpooned and the nasty choking point for a lot of rail traffic, the South Brisbane rail bridge, will just get more and more congested.
This isn’t great news, and hopefully the postponement is a short one. One report today said it might only be a 2 year delay. Let’s hope.
It was a landmark night for Brisbane with the long-awaited Clem 7 tunnel opening to traffic around 11.30pm last night. One of our team was on the spot to be one of the first through and he captured this video.
And no, this isn’t normal driving speed, the trip takes over 4 minutes but we’ve sped things up a little – it is just a tunnel!
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman is wearing a big smile today and he deserves praise. His election promise in 2004 was to get serious about inner Brisbane traffic and his “Transapex” masterplan is about diverting cars around our CBD. The 4.8km Clem 7 tunnel is the first step and in skipping 24 sets of traffic lights its impact on our inner city will be significant.
Watch next for the opening in June of Hale Street Link, now called the Go Between Bridge. It’s about time Brisbane had these sort of solutions.
It might just be us but we’re excited this new inner Brisbane city bus loop is starting earlier than planned. It’s going to run a circuit through West End, South Brisbane, the CBD and into the Valley and Newstead. The big news is you won’t have to wait longer than 5-15 minutes.
The loop will run 24 hours a day on Fridays and Saturdays and BCC now says it’ll kick off in March, coinciding with the opening of the Clem 7 tunnel.
No guessing timetables, no waiting or uncertainty and one, flat fare. We’ve already been to the Translink website to sign up for a Go card (the prepaid way to jump off and on the CityGlider).
There’s few issues that create more neighbourhood rage than rat-running morning commuters. Faced with ‘main road creep’ impatient drivers wind their way through our neighbourhoods, often spending as long getting to their destination but brightened by the satisfaction that comes from keeping their wheels moving at decent pace.
The RACQ are reported today as saying these drivers aren’t to blame and rat-running has a valid role to play in managing peak hour commutes.
We say – what a load of rubbish!
If your home is on a street designed to carry neighbourhood cars but it’s turned into a freeway at 7.15am each day, guess what, it’s effecting your property’s value. Home buyers (and most tenants) consider the impact of traffic on their lifestyle, so unless you live in a cul-de-sac it’s time you formed an opinion on this issue.
RACQ might be trying to prod the government into upgrading major roads but to suggest that residents should get used to rat-running is not real smart.
Most roads used by rat-runners are too narrow and have few of the engineered solutions needed for high volume traffic. BCC say they’ve had 24 requests for traffic-calming devices over the past year.
It’s an emotive issue for those of us who live with this problem daily. In my street we begged and pleaded for help with the problem but were pretty much told that as no major accidents had happened they couldn’t help. Kids on bikes on the way to school, a neighbourhood park with dogs and joggers, cars backing out onto blind corners. Only luck has prevented one and near misses don’t count.
So getting those commuters to work 5 minutes earlier is apparently more important than the safety of my family. Are we happy to accept that?
I don’t catch the bus. I could use it for trips around the inner city for work meetings, but any time I’ve thought of it the timings are confusing, miss one and the next is 30 minutes later, the frequency changes regularly and the fares are all over the shop. Too hard, at least for a workday where appointment times are critical.
The Brisbane City Council has now confirmed that once they start next year the new CityGlider buses will run every 10 minutes, 18 hours a day. It’ll be every 5 minutes in peak times and 24 hours a day over the weekend.
Even I can work this one out.
Travelling from the Ferry stop at West End’s Orleigh Park it’ll run down Montague Road (making that evolving patch feel more connected), through Mollison Street behind Coles, and along South Brisbane’s Melbourne Street.
With tickets issued before you board and extra doors opening to let more people on, the stops will be fast. And we’ll pay one fare (probably $2.50) regardless of how far you travel.
Across Victoria Bridge, through the CBD and Valley, finishing at Teneriffe’s Ferry terminal. Simple, regular, long hours and linking some of our major entertainment, study and work locations. This will be a massive improvement in moving people around the inner city.
Of course the same route and service but under our streets in a Brisbane subway would be even better!
A full week at Lang Park with State of Origin tonight and then a double-header this Friday night with two league games on the one night. Great for the fans but Friday’s early game start is likely to cause yet another melt-down for inner city traffic.
In April the Broncos had an early 6.30pm kick-off (to keep Channel 9 happy) and it caused a traffic scrum for Brisbane commuters. Tempers rose and the inconvenience was huge. Squeezing two games in will ensure league fanatics get a great night out this Friday but timing the game start with the end of week’s hectic after-work rush just doesn’t make sense.
It’s great to have a major sports stadium in the inner city but a bit of common sense with planning would be handy.
Despite some excited pre-budget gossip Brisbane’s inner city subway line is not a sure thing – yet. The Fed government last night dropped $20m into State hands to continue studies on burrowing below the city.
Premier Bligh announced the bold plan late last year and it was hoped the Feds 2009 Budget might kick in more than $2b to get things underway. The project could cost $14b plus, and be completed around 2012-2013. Proposed subway stations include the CBD, West End, Spring Hill and the Gabba.
As anticipated in our earlier post the maxium speed for cars in the CBD will be 40km/h from tomorrow. Council’s now had state govt sign-off so while Ann and Turbot remain 60km/h all other streets in the city centre will now be reduced. There’s no doubt something had to be done, with too many accidents and drivers racing through the streets. But did anyone consider more pedestrian crossings? Last week we walked across Eagle Street illegally because it was a heck of a long way to either end’s crossing. Haven’t measured it but it must be 300 metres.
How many other spots like this are there in the CBD? Cars doing 50 or 40 won’t make much difference to safety if j-walking continues.
While we’re busy building bridges and tunnels to take traffic out of the CBD Council’s this week confirmed a plan to reduce the speed limit on central roads to 40km/h. There’s solid research that says this drop from 50km/h halves the likelihood of a pedestrian being killed on impact, and with 4 fatalities in the CBD in the past 4 years it sounds like a good move to us. Queensland Transport has yet to rubber stamp the decision but expect a change before Easter.
In many parts of Europe a 40km/h limit is in place across all urban areas. In Sweden for example a 32km/h limit really does encourage bicycle use! Council predicts an extra 215,000 office workers to be jostling around Brisbane CBD over the next 20 years so the jaywalking and careless pedestrian problems will only get worse. The Lord Mayor estimates 43% of all traffic through the CBD is really people on the way to somewhere else, so those new roadways bypassing the city can’t come soon enough.
Underground railway stations in Spring Hill, the Gabba, CBD, Newstead and in West End? These are firmly on the planners’ maps as part of the State Govt’s Inner City Rail Capacity study. Released this month it outlines potential for 4 new underground tracks along 2 corridors – from the western Ipswich line linking up to the northern Caboolture line, and from the southern Gold Coast line to the northern lines. Criss-crossing the inner city and under the river with up to 13km of lines, this massive expansion could kick off as early as 2012. But at a cost of $14billion Premier Anna is hoping PM Kevin will tip in some spare cash.
Even with a willing Federal Govt it’s likely to take 18 years to complete. Property owners in these suburbs should be excited – this sort of change in public transport could have huge benefits for residents and workers alike. While they’re close to the action already this new infrastructure would truly expand the CBD into its surrounds. There’s speedy, efficient and accessible subway systems in many of the world’s great cities. Maybe Brisbane’s ready to step up.
