LEAVE YOUR CAR AT HOME AND MOVE TO PUBLIC TRANSPORT WHAT A JOKE!

[ozbob]

Posted on behalf of Mr Wayne Williams, resident of Jamboree Heights.

LEAVE YOUR CAR AT HOME AND MOVE TO PUBLIC TRANSPORT
WHAT A JOKE!

There is a golden opportunity being lost to tempt CBD workers residing in the Centenary Suburbs, Chappell Hill and the suburbs beyond out of their cars and into buses.
BCC with the assistance of funding by the Qld State and Federal Governments, choose to make no provisions for buses to exit and enter the Legacy Tunnels at the Kelvin Grove end to access the CBD. Alas -Trans Link preferred to put up the fares instead.

Many of the existing bus routes from these locations use the Westfield Shopping Centre as a mid route hub and consequently add more congestion to Moggill Road and Coronation Drive.
Alternatively if a peak hour express banana-bus service could be routed to use the Legacy Tunnels, the existing bus station at Mt Ommaney and an expanded one at Kenmore Shopping Centre would be appropriate locations for feeder services to hub from.
Feeder buses services would not be stalled in traffic snarls and therefore capable of servicing many pockets of suburbs that presently don't have a close bus stop and provide better frequency.
Bus commuter time in peak times to the UBD would be halved or better.
By all means a lesser frequent bus service to Indooroopilly should be retained to service workers in this corridor and also university worker and students.

Under the existing alignment of the tunnels, if a bus route was to be allocated to the CBD, all in-bound buses would have to travel via the Inner City Bypass to the Royal Brisbane Hospital to join the Inner City Bus route back to the City – some extra 5 k/m.

Outbound buses from the CBD would have to do the same but then travel further north via the Federation bus stop in Windsor to gain access to the Legacy Tunnel via the Inner City Bypass - some extra 6 k/m with traffic.
This service would be great for hospital workers and patients but not viable for the more numerous City workers. In off peak times, a bus route to the R.B.Hospital should be considered and thus eliminate patient and visitor parking problems.

Has anyone in the design team considered that the CBD return route can be shortened by providing a short, connecting tunnel from the Inner City Bus Way to the portal at the Kelvin Grove end.
This could be an add-on project that would not interfere will the tunnelling from the Toowong end.
With a little more thought, these on/off connections could be designed to accommodate our three wings of emergency services and possibly taxis.
Also with a slight twinking of the tunnel alignment and minimal property resumptions, an underground, above flood level, bus terminal could have been created near ANZ Stadium.

The Airport Link tunnel project is far more flexible and user friendly.
It provides a through route to the Airport Precinct but with a partial bus route and suitable vehicular connections to suburbs within a 5 km radius of the CBD.
In comparison, with the existing design of the Legacy Tunnels, it basically provides only for west to east, Airport and through traffic.

How can the Federal Government inject ½ $billion into the project without making some conditions to include public transportation?
Because of joint funding, our existing 3 levels of Government obviously support the Legacy Tunnels with tolls, but we the public will suffer the financial consequences when the toll returns aren't sufficient to service the loan.

Will there be any money left to upgrade the Western and Centenary Motorways and noise barriers to cope with the possible doubling of traffic flows?
Will the Feds make the same generous donation to our State Government for this missing link?

Under the present State Labor Government, the motorway traffic study for these motorways will not be released for public comment until mid 2012. Uhm – the Legacy tunnels open in 2014.
Will the voters get a similar or better commitment from the Lib/Nat Party prior to the election?
The Green Party has an opinion on better utilization of public transport - but will they put this particular concern into debate?

As a resident of Jamboree Heights at the southern end of the Centenary Estates, I'm also interested in the priority of the bridge duplication of the Sumner Road flyover above the Centenary Motorway by the Lib/Nat and Green Parties - Labor has committed to a completion date at approx 2014/15.
With the Local and State elections looming, now is the time for disgruntled rate and tax payers to approach their candidates to do something positive about improved bus public transport.
Is the lack of foresight in the planning of the Legacy Tunnels with tolls another example of why Australia is fast becoming the most expensive Nation in the world to reside in?

Wayne Williams
Resident of Jamboree Heights
Ph: 32790744
Mob: 0402 084784  

[#Metro]

Shadow boxing between the State and BCC (they could have just done a 50% split - solve everything) meant there is no connection.
A connection would have cost $50 million dollars or something like ~ 1% of the total project cost.

There wasn't money for an interconnection, but in the next breath they boasted about how they had saved $300 million by using the tender process. Yep, this is the same city that took away the Coronation Drive bus lane as an 'improvement' and also wants to run the bus system as a personal taxi service to everyone's house, despite the geometric and mathematical impossibility and inefficiency of that...

Yep, it's time to move to Perth folks...

[ozbob]

Letter to the Editor The Satellite 8th February 2012 page 10

Legacy tunnel concerns

[Jonno]

The Legacy in the tunnel's name is going to painfully ironic to say the least and an embarrassment to the organization that bears the name.  At least Clem Jones deserved to have his name associated with a dud tunnel since he took out the trams that ultimately led to the tunnel being proposed and built.  What did Legacy Australia ever do to deserve this?

[aldonius]

I tend to think of 'legacy as in computing'... an old solution which must be worked around to move forward.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏ @Robert_Dow

LEAVE YOUR CAR AT HOME AND MOVE TO PUBLIC TRANSPORT WHAT A JOKE! --> http://t.co/jTi8UQ2q #qldvotes #qldpol more on the big road con ...

[Mr X]

It is a massive oversight IMHO. How is it we can afford to spend $140M on an onramp extension at the Gateway/Pacific junction to benefit cars, but can't spend less on a simple bus ramp that would benefit quite a few commuters?