Surface bus-rail interchange at Indooroopilly station

[#Metro]

This is what the site looks like.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Indooroopilly&sll=-27.632479,153.136368&sspn=0.015931,0.031457&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Indooroopilly+Queensland,+Australia&ll=-27.503061,152.976098&spn=0.000937,0.002988&t=h&z=19&layer=c&cbll=-27.503346,152.976522&panoid=6lXFv7zfPULJL5haDGh-uA&cbp=12,273.06,,0,10.77

Would the left side of the road (where the car parks are) be a good place for a new bus-rail interchange?
Car parks would be replaced by bus stops and blade timetables on the left of the road.

[somebody]

We would need to resume some land, IMO best done on the Clarence Rd-Lambert Rd-Railway Av-Westminster Rd block.

[somebody]

Looking at your link, it is of Lambert Rd.  Have you ever been here in the PM peak?  It's a car park trying to get on to the Indooroopilly bridge.  What are you going to do about that?  Also, have you been to Indooroopilly interchange ever?  I do not think this amount of room is sufficent.  Perhaps if you close the road to cars then that would help.  You would need to level a few of the properties on the north side of the road to get a useful result unless there is something I am not thinking of, but that is achievable.

[#Metro]

Could signal priority, bus jump lanes and a turn around built on the barracks site help?
I don't think any buildings need to be leveled or the road closed.

There's a subway/walkway at the corner as well.

[#Metro]

Indooroopilly Interchange - Discussion Concept Only

Had some more thoughts about this, decided to try it out on paper/screen:

Three platform faces, all on the left side of the street:
No. 1 Platform in the park
No 2. Platform kerb location
No 3. Platform set back on Lambert Road, immediately after intersection

Potential No.4 Platform face across the road at 8 Lambert Road shops if a turn around facility is provided. Reverse flow of one-way Railway Avenue. Would allow buses to exit and head back to Indooroopilly Bus Station (possible additional layover).

Concept deliberately avoids tunnelling, (over-)station reconstruction, or new bridges. Amenities could be placed in the park (schematic - blue box). Guessing it could receive 5 buses at a time (2 buses x No. 1 and 2, 1 bus at No.3).

Thoughts?

[verbatim9]

I prefer the station to be moved North where Bunnings currently stands. This can allow Bunnings to be rebuilt into a 20 storey mixed use tower with a new climate controlled station, inline bus layover and stops in conjunction with the new development.

The Walter Taylor bridge should be closed with a new two lane tunnel in each direction connecting Coonan Street @ Belgrave road with Wharf Street merging into Oxley road.

This can allow for urban renewal with 20 storey towers extra wide footpaths, thus creating the potential of unique outdoor dining environment in conjunction with new retail outlets, as well as the opportunity for deep planting along Coonan street from the Walter Taylor Bridge to Grosvenor Road, creating a canopy of shade.

It can also be returned to a low speed zone of (40kph) as the arterial road will be subsequently underground bypassing the area.

They also need to extend the Busway from UQ to Indooroopilly as well.

[Jonno]

Honestly the interchange just needs to be a light Rail style stop in Coonan Street.

[#Metro]

Jonno, do you have a concept image of how that would work?

[aldonius]

Metro - still need a southbound Clarence Rd stop for UQ bound buses.

I'm guessing this is primarily intended to support reconfiguring most of the past-Indro-area routes into an Indro rail terminus? (Most routes that do actually terminate at Indro shops today either cross the Walter Taylor (with stops on Coonan St), interact with rail elsewhere on the route, or both.)

[#Metro]

Metro - still need a southbound Clarence Rd stop for UQ bound buses.

Thanks for this - what would that look like?

[Jonno]

Could be something like this but probably simpler/smaller scale (minus the useless Park'n'Ride)



or maybe more like Chalmers Street in Sydney



Noting this could be in Westminster Rd (western end) not Coonan Street.

[#Metro]

Thanks Jonno,

How would this fit into the local context? Are you suggesting this for Coonan Street, Westminster Road, Lambert Road, or Station Road?

Coming to think of it, Station Road is another possibility. Could do it similar to Dickson Interchange in Canberra/ACT, would require more pedestrian crossings and closing the end of that road to general traffic (bus only access).

One factor in favour of Station Road is that it doesn't involve crossing over the bridge which gets congested. I would guess it could take 6 buses at any one time, plus the middle lanes could be repurposed as bus passing lanes. There are stairs immediately next to the traffic signals and possibly disability access by going up the path to the station entrance.

Station Road Transit Mall - Discussion Concept

If Indooroopilly station is moved, the road and interchange can be converted back easily.

[Jonno]

I was thinking in Westminster Rd just above the Little Lawyers name in the diagram above. Station Street between Westminster Rd and Coonan Street should be pedestrianised.

Ideally Westminster Rd & Coonan St intersection looks more like

[OzGamer]

Honestly, the traffic on these roads for much of the day makes me skeptical this can work without some major reorganization going on. If the rail station moved further north you would have a better chance, but it might be cheaper instead to build a grade-separated bus station. Perhaps above the station at right angles with ramps going from a little bit up Station Road and down on to Lambert Road the other side.

Not sure I'm a fan of this either, but this is a very constrained area with nightmarish traffic. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it can take twenty to thirty minutes to get from going past St Peters on Lambert Road around to the bridge or Moggill Road in the afternoon in school/uni term time. Put all western suburbs buses into this mix without some sort of separation would be disastrous.

[aldonius]

Thanks for this - what would that look like?

Just as it does today.
https://jp.translink.com.au/plan-your-journey/stops/001666

[#Metro]

Honestly, the traffic on these roads for much of the day makes me skeptical this can work without some major reorganization going on. If the rail station moved further north you would have a better chance, but it might be cheaper instead to build a grade-separated bus station. Perhaps above the station at right angles with ramps going from a little bit up Station Road and down on to Lambert Road the other side.

Not sure I'm a fan of this either, but this is a very constrained area with nightmarish traffic. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it can take twenty to thirty minutes to get from going past St Peters on Lambert Road around to the bridge or Moggill Road in the afternoon in school/uni term time. Put all western suburbs buses into this mix without some sort of separation would be disastrous.

These are good points and yes, any change is going to have to deal with the possibility that the entire station might move north at some point in the future. I think a good way to deal with that is to think in terms of time periods.

1. There is a need for a "now" solution (deliverable in 9-12 months) that does the job and won't be a big loss if the station moves

2. A more longer term solution that has more capacity (a more 'concrete' solutions should we say?)

The Station Road option seems more favourable than the Whitton Barracks Park option because its shorter, and there is a pedestrian tunnel hidden in the corner plus stairs directly across the road so that access is facilitated.

[Jonno]

Is this seriously what BCC calls integration to a railway station.  Nooo!! They having a lend Surely. Can't have a stop right across from the entrance to the train station on Westminster Rd.  Translink needs to completely redo routes, stops and rail integration.

Integration BCC Style

[#Metro]

Is this seriously what BCC calls integration to a railway station.  Nooo!!

  

Better not have a look at what the bus does outside Toowong, or Coopers Plains, or Zillmere.

[verbatim9]

All these ideas regarding expensive land resumption and LRT models would take years. That's why 4 lane road tunnel  under the river and closing the bridge would be ideal. The station relocation can be subsidised due selling the air rights alongside and above the station for a new mixed use tower. You could get all this done by 2031 if planning and works start by next year.

Yes, St Peters and Indooroopilly school traffic is terrible, hence the need for the busway extension and a busway/metro station that would cater for both schools.

[verbatim9]

P.s The structural integrity of the Walter Taylor bridge is weakening, thus it's  at the end of its  lifecycle. Lots of money will need to be poured  into this bridge to keep it safe. Modern tunnels and the station  relocation would become cost neutral. It's a win for  motorists, active transport users and public transport users alike.

It also sets up the area for extensive urban renewal as well as supporting higher density.

[Jonno]

Why is it only in QLD we still doing things the 1970's way!!! This is what our interchanges need to look like!! Not bus parking lots

https://twitter.com/melbontransit/status/1649930083715670017?

[Gazza]

P.s The structural integrity of the Walter Taylor bridge is weakening, thus it's  at the end of its  lifecycle. Lots of money will need to be poured  into this bridge to keep it safe. Modern tunnels and the station  relocation would become cost neutral. It's a win for  motorists, active transport users and public transport users alike.

It also sets up the area for extensive urban renewal as well as supporting higher density.

Wouldn't the road tunnel need to start a fair way back to get deep enough under the river?

[#Metro]

Station Road Indooroopilly Transit Mall Concept

I had a look at how long a bus might take to transit from Indooroopilly Shopping Centre to Station Road. To cover about 450 m it would take 3 minutes.

I would also point out here that rocket buses via Legacy Way do not serve Indooroopilly Shopping Centre or Coronation Drive. Therefore under a connected network model, they could continue to run.

[#Metro]

Concept List of Route Changes with an Indooroopilly Transit Mall

Candidate routes that could potentially end at Station Road Transit Mall
-    414 Taringa
-    425 Kenmore Hills
-    430 Fig Tree Pocket
-    433 Kenmore
-    435 Brookfield
-    445 Fig Tree Pocket
-    453 Mt Ommaney
-    460 Heathwood
-    468 Oxley

Existing Through-Routes

These routes already go through this area, but would benefit as the interchange is more pedestrian friendly than current arrangements.

-    427 Kenmore
-    428 UQ-Chapel Hill
-    432 Kenmore-UQ

Routes that would remain unchanged and will continue to travel direct to the CBD via Coronation Drive, and thus not use the Station Road Transit Mall

- All Rocket services via Legacy Way – Unchanged
- BUZ 444 Moggill/Bellbowrie - Unchanged
-    454 Riverhills/Mt Ommaney
-    450 Riverhills/Mt Ommaney (weekend service)

The reasoning for not changing Route 450/454 are that these services have the potential to be upgraded to BUZ 400 in the future, once the Coronation Drive services have been decluttered/deduplicated.

Conclusion

Construction of a Station Road Transit Mall will greatly simplify the network and allow any savings to be ploughed back into more frequent services. Passengers will not be 'forced' to transfer to rail - if they want a direct trip, most passengers can continue to get one by waiting for their rocket bus to turn up, or by changing buses to another bus at Indooroopilly Bus Station for a via Coronation Drive service.