RAIL - Back On Track Forum

7 News are doing a story on this in the 6pm bulletin. 

Twitter

7 News Queensland ‏@7NewsQueensland 6m6 minutes ago

RACQ calling for action on an alternative road linking traffic from North Brisbane to the CBD #7News #bnetraffic

Thanks Jeff for doing this interview.   

Trouts Road corridor forms a boundary to the seat of Everton, held by Tim Mander with a margin of 440 votes based on preferential voting method to apply at the next state election.  He is being touted as the next LNP leader.  The other contender is Tim Nicholls out Clayfield way.  If Mr Mander gets in as LNP leader, a letterbox drop in the seat of Everton promoting 'trains not lanes' in the Trouts Road corridor could win over those 400 or so voters.  That's all that's required to make him yesterday's man.  Alternatively, upgrading the Doomben line and extending it to Hamilton Wharf would be a key local election issue in Mr Nicholls' seat should he become LNP leader. 

Clarify each sitting members preference (rail or road) and then if it's not rail proceed with the letterbox drop.

Also made front page of NW News (basicall same story as in Courier Mail yesterday).

http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/trouts-road-trains-not-lanes.html
Trouts Rd - Trains not Lanes!

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Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow now

BrizCommuter: Trouts Road - Trains not Lanes!

> http://brizcommuter.blogspot.com.au/2016/05/trouts-road-trains-not-lanes.html ... #qldpol

For the Trouts Rd motorway corridor to work, you'd need to have a tunnel from Everton Park to Toowong as part of a western orbital (from the M5/M7 interchange, up the Western Fwy, through the tunnel then up Trouts Rd). Long-term Metroad 5 between Toowong and Ashgrove is not going to cut it as a ring road. In fact, the road is already pretty bad as-is.

Dare I say it, could you build the rail line first with a two-lane road, then expand it to motorway standard later?

Fun thing to tell you guys, My work keeps their work vehicles at a house right next the reserved corridor of trouts rd. (they actually park them within the government owned land) Thats where i park my car.  Early last week i shortcutted and did a bit of off roading through trouts rd for about 200m.   I am might be possibly one of the few in history to drive through the trouts rd "motor"way.   It does need alot of resurfacing done.

It has to be some form a rail line, no roadway, no busway.   Simply because a road won't help any of the congestion further down at stafford road or south pine road.
Rail will be faster, and more convenient for everyone.   We need to stop forcing people to drive and start making them choose to drive.  Right now, its not a choice.

Couriermail --> North West Transport Corridor: Calls renewed to combat Gympie Rd

QuoteTHE RACQ and Brisbane City Council have renewed calls for a congestion-busting transport corridor to be developed through bushland that has been set aside for more than three decades.

The North West Transport Corridor has been preserved by the State Government since the 1980s although it was first identified in the 1960s.

It runs 9km through the heart of the northside from South Pine Rd and Shand St, Everton Park to Gympie Rd, Carseldine (at the Gympie and Gympie Arterial Rd).

The corridor runs parallel to Trouts Rd through McDowall and snakes through Bridgeman Downs to Carseldine.

Originally preserved for a four-lane freeway and up to 60m in width in parts, it's now likely to include a busway and cycle paths.

There's even a bolder plan to connect the NWTC with Airport Link under Stafford Rd as part of the Everton Park to Kedron Stafford Road Tunnel.

But railway lobby group Rail Back on Track has made it clear the land should be not be used for a road.

Rail Back on Track spokesman Robert Dow stated it was "absolutely ­essential" to build a regional high-speed rail service to the Sunshine Coast and stations at Everton Park, McDowall and ­Aspley.

The NWTC would not only ease traffic congestion along Gympie Rd and South Pine Rd, but clear-up the notorious Beams and Gympie Rd intersection at Carseldine, local Bracken Ridge Ward councillor Amanda Cooper said.

She said the intersection had become a nightmare and the NWTC needed to be developed.

"This is the last roll of the dice to deal with traffic congestion for the northern suburbs of Brisbane," Cr Cooper said.

"It's all vegetated and it's owned all the way out to Carseldine from Stafford ... it's something they need to look at because Gympie Rd arterial is at a capacity.

"It would be a great outcome if the State Government came up with options that delivered infrastructure to deal with traffic congestion and better public transport access."

The RACQ's head of public policy Dr Rebecca Michael said they campaigned for the NWTC to be developed at the last state election and it remained one of the 10 greater Brisbane projects the government must address.

"NWTC will be vital infrastructure for our city because it'll allow for better distribution of traffic across the road network, relieving pressure on Gympie Road and providing one part of a higher standard western bypass of Brisbane for freight movements and general traffic," she said.

"We think a potential option is for a four lane multi-modal transport corridor that caters for road, rail, cycling and walking."

A Department of Transport and Mains Rd spokesman said "significant" public consultation was undertaken in 2011 for Connecting SEQ 2031 report.

However there were no plans to develop the corridor because it needed more investigation.

"An integrated\Regional Transport Plan for South East Queensland, which supported the use of this corridor for a multimodal rail, road, and active transport route along the preserved North West Transport Corridor from Stafford Road, Everton Park to Gympie Arterial Road at Carseldine," the spokesperson said.

"The plan for the North West Transport Corridor has not yet been finalised and is subject to further planning and investigation."
THE BENEFITS

- Reduce traffic on Gympie Rd and allow the construction of the Northern Busway within the existing road corridor with less impact and at lower cost.

- Be an alternative transport link between the Bruce Hwy and Stafford Rd and the opportunity to link to the Australia TradeCoast via the Stafford Road tunnel.

- Provide relief to local arterial roads such as Old Northern Road and Webster Road

- Connect to the bus lanes on Kelvin Grove Road and Enoggera Road and provide a high quality bus facility from the outer north-western suburbs through to the CBD.

- Connect with the Stafford Road bus priority lanes.

- Promote transit oriented development at key activity centres

- Connect with the Kedron Brook cycleway and proposed Stafford Road Veloway to create a connected and continuous cycle network.

Start it ASAP and look for Federal Government funds.

It's frustrating that the Government apparently insists this be a road. When a rail is suggested, the State Government, Federal Government and Council are three girls who just can't say no. Ask for a train line, and you get endless studies, glossies and "hmm maybe, not right now though". If we got started on this and Flagstone next year we could have CRR making a huge impact by 2024.

The only problem is the immense cost. It's 9km of rail along the corridor, and then there's the Alderley question. I'd be open to simply building a triplicated or quad track along Trouts, but only running local services and keeping Sunshine Coast services routed the other way. When CRR is completed, Stage 2 could be the commencement of a second tunnel between Albion and Everton Park (as HappyTrainGuy mentioned in the CRR thread).

To obtain a suitable ROI, any extension or new tunnel from CRR to Trouts Rd would have to be via QUT the Kelvin Grove area and a likely redevelopment of Ballymore Stadium. Would a solid connection to CRR be possible?

Quote from: kram0 on February 22, 2018, 16:20:04 PM
To obtain a suitable ROI, any extension or new tunnel from CRR to Trouts Rd would have to be via QUT the Kelvin Grove area and a likely redevelopment of Ballymore Stadium. Would a solid connection to CRR be possible?

If you want to go via Kelvin Grove campus and Ballymore and end up surfacing somewhere near Alderley station your tunnel is going to have some serious curves in it...

I don't think a stop at Kelvin Grove is essential.  It's a very quick hop up the busway, and it is clearly going to be a lot more cost effective to hook into CRR in a way that can be implemented at a later date without disruption.  I would go back to the work previously done as part of CRR version 1 - dives at the Ekka Loop, peeling away to the north-west and then making a bee-line for Alderley.

I think a QUT KG stop is essential. We have seen how good universities are at producing patronage, a station at QUT KG would significantly ease the pressure on the INB in this area. Once at QUT KG, the line can then go straight down Kelvin Grove Road and run under this very high patronage corridor.

Ballymore - I'm not sure why people think it should be redeveloped into (more!) apartments. In terms of road access it is in a very poor position, in terms of connections to non-CBD locations it is also in a poor position. If anything, make it parkland and wide open space - with increasing density, if you want people to sacrifice their backyards, you will need green space to compensate.

Kelvin Grove is served by a busway, soon to be Metro.

Other areas of central Brisbane have no busway and no train station, so they should be the aim of any second rail tunnel.

To that end, duplicating the Ferny Grove line as well is foolish. Any second tunnel needs to add new, high value stations to the network to be worthwhile and to have a good business case. Looking at CRR, we see three - Albert Street, Exhibition and Woolloongabba - alongside enhancements to two other existing stations.

Whatever the alignment of a rail tunnel from Trouts becomes, it'll need to hit some high value areas. Southwest from Alderley to capture some areas not served by the existing network?

In an ideal arrangement it would be a tunnel making a bee-line from Roma St underground platforms to Kelvin Grove, then Alderley.  I'm just not overly confident that can actually be made to work. 

Stubs and future provisioning is not only out of scope for CRR, it leads to useless infrastructure like all the stubs and dead platforms and tunnels littering the Sydney CBD that can't be used even if they wanted to because they no longer meet modern standards and it is cheaper to build from scratch.

In reality, CRR is going to be built first, so whatever happens needs to be designed to work around that.

BrizCommuter: North West Transport Corridor - The Missing Link

>> https://brizcommuter.blogspot.com.au/2018/04/north-west-transport-corridor-missing.html

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https://brizcommuter.blogspot.com.au/2018/04/north-west-transport-corridor-missing.html
North West Transport Corridor - The Missing Link


Source: DoTMR

This isn't the first time that BrizCommuter has written about the need for the Trouts Road / North West Transport(ation) Corridor for rail, but this blog post goes into more detail. This reserved corridor stretches through Brisbane's Northern suburbs between Everton Park and Carseldine. Apart from a mention in Connecting SEQ 2031 under the state ALP Bligh government, there has been very little mention of this transport corridor in politics until recently. Recent mention has been related to the federal LPN Turnbull government's suggestion of a fast rail link between Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast called "North Coast Connect". So what are the advantages of building a rail line along Trouts Road / North West Transport Corridor?

    100% increases in rail capacity from Caboolture and the Sunshine Coast into Brisbane (up to 24tph). This would also allow a 100% increase in rail capacity from the Redcliffe Peninsula Line and/or the Shorncliffe Line (up to 24tph). This cannot be realised by Cross Rail Rail alone due to the 4 track bottleneck on the existing North Coast Line between Albion and Northgate (which only allows for an additional 3tph to Caboolture and the Sunshine Coast).
    Faster journey times between Caboolture and the Sunshine Coast to Roma Street due to an approx. 5km shorter, straighter, and faster alignment.
    High frequency public transport to many Brisbane Northern suburbs (Everton Park, Stafford Heights, McDowell, Chermside West) currently devoid of high frequency public transport.
    Allows for direct rail services between the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast.
    Would improve the business cases for Sunshine Coast Line duplication and rail to Caloundra and Maroochydore (CAMCOS).
    All of the above would reduce pressure on roads across Brisbane's Northside and the Bruce Highway. 24tph with 50% full trains = 10,000 cars off the road = 5 car lanes/hour/direction.

There have been some suggestions of building a freeway along this corridor. This is poor value for money concept as there would nowhere for the cars to go once they get the Samford Road or Wardell Street, over than already congested roads that would be difficult to upgrade. BrizCommuter would also debate if there is enough room for both a train line and freeway along the corridor (especially if more than 2 tracks are required) without requiring further property resumptions or building a double deck rail/road structure. There would however be space for local access roads, in particular to station car parks and drop off zones. An adjacent cycleway could also be easily provisioned.

Suggested track map for the Trouts Rd Line



So where would the line go (heading South to North)?

    Ideally, the line would break off from the Cross River Rail (CRR) tunnel just North of Roma Street, in the vicinity of Countess Street. It is vital that tunnel connections are created during the construction of CRR, as adding them later would force the temporary closure of CRR for months (as there are no track crossovers to allow CRR services to turnback at Roma Street). Frequency of CRR and Trouts Road services would be well matched, allowing for all or most services to through run, though this would make the rebuilt Exhibition station a bit of a white elephant.
    The first station heading North would be at QUT Kelvin Grove, adjacent to Kelvin Grove Road. This serves a large trip generator.
    The next station would be at Alderley, allowing for interchange with the Ferny Grove Line. The most ideal location would be just North north of Alderley station which would require some industrial and residential resumption.
    The line would then climb out of the tunnel, with a station at Stafford Rd in Everton Park. Due to the line having to cross Kedron Brook, the exact alignment here would need some detailed analysis. 
    The line would then climb up and continue along the Trouts Road corridor, with stations at Flockton Street, Hamilton Road, Albany Creek Road, and Beams Road. The alignment is fairly hilly, so a reasonable amount of earthworks would be required.
    North of Beams Road, the line would need to be routed to connect with the existing North Coast (Caboolture) Line. Increasing development makes things tricky here, but an elevated route over Gympie Road would probably most cost effective.
    The line would connect with the existing North Coast Line to the South East of Strathpine station via a grade separated junction, allowing for via Trouts Road services to run to/from Caboolture and Sunshine Coast, and Redcliffe Peninsula Line services to run via Northgate. A 4th track would need to be added between Strathpine and Lawnton.
    Preferably, the Trouts Road Line would have 4 tracks between the tunnel portal at Everton Park and Beams Road, allowing for express services to overtake all stations services in both directions. Ideally, Sunshine Coast services would run express, and Caboolture services would serve all stations. Alternatively Sunshine Coast and Caboolture services could run express, and local service starting at Strathpine would service all stations. However, this latter service pattern would require additional reversing facilities at Strathpine, which are complicated by the directional uses of each track. This would also reduce the maximum frequency of services that could serve Caboolture and Sunshine Coast (to approx. 16tph).
    Stations would have an optimal mix of car parking, local feeder buses, kiss'n'ride drop off, and active transport access (walking/bike). With a 4 track layout, a central island platform with inner local and lateral express tracks would be most preferable at stations between Everton Park and Beams Road (see suggested track map). Stations would be designed to allow for up to 9-car trains in the future.
    Alternative options that would need a cost/benefit analysis are for a tunnel routing via Ashgrove and Enoggera, or for 2 stations at Felstead Street and Rode Road instead of 3 at Stafford Road, Flockton Street, and Hamilton Road. 3 tracks may slightly lower costs, but would prevent express services from overtaking all stations services in the counter-peak direction. With 3 tracks, two side platforms would be required, with a centre express track. If not connected to CRR, a dedicated underground terminus could be built at Roma Street (or elsewhere in the CBD), but this would considerably add to the cost, and cause an inefficient North/South train service imbalance compared to through routing all CRR services. Using the existing Ferny Grove Line as an alternative to tunnelling between Roma Street and Alderley would have negative implications on capacity and journey time, and is thus a poor option.

So what is required to make this happen?

    Political competence, forward thinking, bi-partisan thinking, and funding. These are all currently sadly lacking in Queensland.
    Urgently change the design of CRR to allow for a junction near Countess Street (without having to temporarily close CRR for months).
    Further route safeguarding, especially in the Enoggera/Alderley area, and between Beams Road and the North Coast Line.

Construction of the North West Transport Corridor / Trouts Road Line is critical for allowing "fast trains to the Sunshine Coast", significantly increasing capacity on the Sunshine Coast, Caboolture, and Redcliffe Peninsula Lines, and improving public transport to the Northern suburbs of Brisbane. It is also important that provision is made for this line to connect into the proposed CRR tunnels, otherwise CRR will need to be closed for months to allow for this work to occur.

Quote from: SurfRail on February 22, 2018, 22:48:13 PM
Stubs and future provisioning is not only out of scope for CRR, it leads to useless infrastructure like all the stubs and dead platforms and tunnels littering the Sydney CBD that can't be used even if they wanted to because they no longer meet modern standards and it is cheaper to build from scratch.

Quote from: ozbob on April 24, 2018, 01:55:31 AM
Ideally, the line would break off from the Cross River Rail (CRR) tunnel just North of Roma Street, in the vicinity of Countess Street. It is vital that tunnel connections are created during the construction of CRR, as adding them later would force the temporary closure of CRR for months (as there are no track crossovers to allow CRR services to turnback at Roma Street). Frequency of CRR and Trouts Road services would be well matched, allowing for all or most services to through run, though this would make the rebuilt Exhibition station a bit of a white elephant.

..........

So what is required to make this happen?

    Urgently change the design of CRR to allow for a junction near Countess Street (without having to temporarily close CRR for months).

So both Surfrail and Brizcommuter have indicated that future tunnel stubs towards the NW corridor AREN'T part of the CRR works, yet in another forum there is a claim that they are. I certainly have not seen anything that would indicate that they are, this particular person couldn't provide a source either to confirm that they are. I have seen a reference alignment plan for Roma St station but this excludes where any possible stubs would be. Am I safe to assume that this person is either misinformed or having a lens of me?

We had a group meeting with CRR staff a while ago.  One of the questions we raised is would there be tunnel stubs not only for NWT but also for a possible southern extension.  They indicated no provision.  They went on to say that with modern techniques not necessary   . 

I said at the time we think there should be some provision made.

CRR in its present form is another classic ' half baked project '  <  something Queensland does very well, the half baking sadly ...

Quote from: ozbob on April 29, 2018, 12:53:05 PM
We had a group meeting with CRR staff a while ago.  One of the questions we raised is would there be tunnel stubs not only for NWT but also for a possible southern extension.  They indicated no provision.  They went on to say that with modern techniques not necessary   . 

I said at the time we think there should be some provision made.

CRR in its present form is another classic ' half baked project '  <  something Queensland does very well, the half baking sadly ...

Thanks for the info Ozbob, just as I suspected. Agreed that half baked projects is a specialty. So I'm guessing "with modern techniques not necessary" is code for giving it no thought at all.

Quote
Thanks for the info Ozbob, just as I suspected. Agreed that half baked projects is a specialty. So I'm guessing "with modern techniques not necessary" is code for giving it no thought at all.

It is going to be damn hard to retro-install a flying junction into CRR UNDERGROUND while it is operational as well.

Would just LOVE to know what technique they were thinking of doing to achieve this?

Or were they thinking of inserting a conflicting junction (flat junction) into the CRR tunnel for this? So that trains can block a mainline and reduce capacity and introduce a fun fun fun bottleneck?

The flat junction north of Roma St wouldn't be that much of a problem - it won't make sense to run trains in service through Exhibition anyway.

Yes I was curious about that, but I understand that ozbob is only passing on what has been said so I wasn't going to open a can of worms on the logistics of how that would occur. Though I honestly can't see how you can link the two in with each other once CRR is operational without causing some length of significant disruption.

I would hope there are greater minds than mine considering all of these things. The trouble is I'm sceptical of any longer term planning going into these things. I understand Surfrail's point about not wanting to end up with abandoned platforms and tunnels that don't end up getting used, like in Sydney for example, but providing a short stub for a future extension to the system would be fairly insignificant in the total project cost and could provide both financial and non-financial benefits in the future.

Quote from: Gazman on April 29, 2018, 14:52:30 PM
Yes I was curious about that, but I understand that ozbob is only passing on what has been said so I wasn't going to open a can of worms on the logistics of how that would occur. Though I honestly can't see how you can link the two in with each other once CRR is operational without causing some length of significant disruption.

I would hope there are greater minds than mine considering all of these things. The trouble is I'm sceptical of any longer term planning going into these things. I understand Surfrail's point about not wanting to end up with abandoned platforms and tunnels that don't end up getting used, like in Sydney for example, but providing a short stub for a future extension to the system would be fairly insignificant in the total project cost and could provide both financial and non-financial benefits in the future.

The lack of tunnel stubs was confirmed by the CRR project team during the public consultation for CRR Mk3.
Only stubs are required, not extra tunnels or platforms, though it would help if the CRR tracks were aligned vertically rather than horizontally in the Countess St area to allow for an simplified grade separated junction. CRR via Exhibition will have severe capacity restraints from the North due to the 4 track limitation between Albion and Northgate - very half-baked and inefficient use of crew/train resources.

Facebook ...

^ going off like the old Darra Flyer .. 

NWTC >> https://www.facebook.com/RAILBackOnTrack/posts/2642044902476347

918 People reached 495 Engagements

https://yoursay.brisbane.qld.gov.au/NWTN?tool_id=improve-transportNWB

The people speak for themselves. On the quick poll off to the right, currently 500 people have voted and 54% have been for public transport improvements. The next best is for road improvements at just 28%.

Noticed today on the Brisbane City Council website, a link to a survey on the north west corridor, with it leading to a business plan for the area.

This has got me nervous, knowing Brisbane City Council, they will simply want a busway/bus metro, rather than the long term idea of having a rail line between Normanby and Strathpine.

Also since when did Brisbane City Council become the State Government?

The basic issue is that BCC is able to control the public transport outcomes for the Brisbane region.  The present State Government has clearly given up on fixing up how PT is managed and delivered in Queensland, despite having the CRU look at that and make recommendations.  I might write to the CRU and see if they will release those recommendations.  I have tried before but they wouldn't release them because they stated they were under consideration by Cabinet and key stakeholders.

TransLink is the not the organisation you once served with STB, it is an under resourced and funding for service improvements is limited. It appears that TransLink has given over to TfB for planning etc. in the Brisbane region.  True integration is never going to occur under these fragmented structures.  Queensland needs a dedicated Minister for Public Transport and a proper public transport authority.  But it is not going to happen with the present Government.

I am now of the view that rail in the NWTC is probably not going to occur.  The only hope is that if the North Coast Connect business case (presently being assessed by the National Faster Rail Agency in Canberra) comes out strongly that the NWTC is part of the fast rail solution. And even if that is the case, my guess is that there will a lot of opposition to rail no doubt. It is likely that the NWTC will be drawn into the Council Election theatrics.

BCC holds the bus contract- automatic renewal no matter what - so they can do what they like.

Unlike Sydney or Melbourne where the State Government pays, I think the Queensland Government doesn't want to fund 100% of the costs.

Ideally, local council control would see a more responsive service. But the opposite is true, the network can barely change. That and some clearly absurd routes such as 480 Mt Coot-tha not connecting to trains.

Translink has never had full control of the Brisbane bus region, and BCC seems to want to control fares as well. Fare free Friday anyone?

Quote from: STB on February 02, 2020, 10:14:45 AM
Noticed today on the Brisbane City Council website, a link to a survey on the north west corridor, with it leading to a business plan for the area.

This has got me nervous, knowing Brisbane City Council, they will simply want a busway/bus metro, rather than the long term idea of having a rail line between Normanby and Strathpine.

Also since when did Brisbane City Council become the State Government?

The survey isn't specifucally about the NWTC but NW Brisbane in general. The survey is terrible though.

Quote from: ozbob on February 03, 2020, 04:38:41 AM
The basic issue is that BCC is able to control the public transport outcomes for the Brisbane region.  The present State Government has clearly given up on fixing up how PT is managed and delivered in Queensland, despite having the CRU look at that and make recommendations.  I might write to the CRU and see if they will release those recommendations.  I have tried before but they wouldn't release them because they stated they were under consideration by Cabinet and key stakeholders.

TransLink is the not the organisation you once served with STB, it is an under resourced and funding for service improvements is limited. It appears that TransLink has given over to TfB for planning etc. in the Brisbane region.  True integration is never going to occur under these fragmented structures.  Queensland needs a dedicated Minister for Public Transport and a proper public transport authority.  But it is not going to happen with the present Government.

I am now of the view that rail in the NWTC is probably not going to occur.  The only hope is that if the North Coast Connect business case (presently being assessed by the National Faster Rail Agency in Canberra) comes out strongly that the NWTC is part of the fast rail solution. And even if that is the case, my guess is that there will a lot of opposition to rail no doubt. It is likely that the NWTC will be drawn into the Council Election theatrics.

The review of transport governance is still ongoing.  See > https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=12341.msg232904#msg232904

Not much point in contacting CRU as they will not release the review as not complete.

Couriermail Quest --> Brisbane Mayor refuses to rule out major new toll road through northern suburbs

December 12, 2019

QuoteThe Brisbane City Council has refused to rule out a new toll road on the north side.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner dodged a call from his Labor opponent Pat Condren to say such a road was not a possibility, but the council's Infrastructure Chair David McLachlan said the council had "not discussed" a toll road.

Mr Condren said north siders had been clear they did not want a "four-lane mega-highway" through their community.

"Nor do they want the Mayor's pet project, his bendy bus Metro, adding a route on top of what is already traffic chaos. It will only make matters worse," he said.

"Peak transport bodies like RACQ and Transurban are on the record saying that more toll roads in Brisbane is not the solution."

Mr Condren claimed the Federal Government had given the council $10 million for a feasibility study for a four-lane lane toll road from Legacy Way to Bald Hills

When the study was announced it June the council said it was to find subterranean solutions for traffic congestion and Cr Andrew Wines (LNP – Enoggera) said: "It's not about building the north west corridor and surface options are not being considered, it's all subterranean."

But in February The Council of Mayors (SEQ), of which Brisbane City Council is a part, proposed a $6.5 billion highway and rail line on the North West Transport Corridor linking Bald Hills to Stafford Rd and Alderley rail station.

The row comes after the council launched the north west transport network study.

Cr McLachlan said the council had to start planning for the infrastructure needs of the north west to reduce traffic snarls.

"We want to hear from residents about what they would like to see to improve transport, including public transport, cycling infrastructure and pedestrian links," he said.

^

This is being FUD'ed by Liam Culverhouse - ALP Candidate for McDowall Ward

https://www.facebook.com/LiamCulverhouse4McDowall/posts/1292427467621024

Couriermail Quest --> The 13 northwest Brisbane roads you hate the most

QuoteMore than 3000 people have had their say on how to fix the appalling mess that is the road network in Brisbane's northwest.

And most say better public transport is the key, not new roads, despite a Brisbane City Council push to build a new North West Transport Corridor.

The route of any such corridor will not be known until Council has had a chance to assess the results of online and face-to-face surveys conducted between November last year and February.

The extensive public consultation also revealed 13 shocking arterial roads and what residents think can be done to improve them, from widening to removing on-street parking and coordinated traffic signals.

The roads were: Gympie; Enoggera; Hamilton; Kelvin Grove; Lutwyche; M5; Moggill; Old Northern; Rode; Samford; South Pine; Stafford; Waterworks.

A corridor "study area'' map was included in the report, covering Bald Hills, Fitzgibbon, Bridgeman Downs, Chermside and Toowong, but did not outline any specific preferred routes.

More than half (56 per cent) of the 1368 residents who responded to the council's online poll on the best way to improve transport in the northwest said they wanted better train and bus services.

Another 12 per cent said bicycle networks needed to be improved, but only 26 per cent said roads were the best way to fix the area's transport woes.

The results were even more overwhelming for face-to-face polls, with two-thirds of respondents calling for better public transport and 9 per cent better bike infrastructure.

Only 23 per cent wanted better roads.

"As part of (BCC's) commitment, late last year Council invited residents to share feedback about their travel behaviours and where transport services and infrastructure could be improved across Brisbane's north west,'' Council said.

"During the consultation from November 27 to February 7, more than 3400 items of feedback were received online, in person at 19 consultation sessions, or via email, phone or post.

"The valuable feedback received is helping to inform the north west transport network business case and guide the planning of future transport initiatives.

"Council looks forward to seeking additional community feedback in late 2020 as part of stage two of the business case development.''

The business case will be submitted to Federal Government funding body Infrastructure Australia by mid-2021.

Council hoped IA would include a north west corridor as one of the investment projects on IA's Infrastructure Priority List.

The online quick poll asked residents: "What is the most important way that transport in Brisbane's north west can be improved?"

Another 485 people made responses at 19 community consultation sessions.

The consultation process found just over half (55 per cent) of respondents used a car to move around during week days, with only 22 per cent catching a bus, 12 per cent taking trains and 8 per cent hopping on a bike.

More than one in four (28 per cent), or 469 respondents, said they were headed for the CBD and another 4 per cent who answered questions about their travel destination nominated the Valley.

Chermside (4 per cent), Herston (3 per cent) and South Brisbane (3 per cent) were the other top destinations.

Sent to all outlets:

BCC Transport Planning Stuck in Last Century

2nd August 2020

RAIL Back On Track Members note that the residents of north Brisbane "get it" with the vast majority responding to the BCC online survey that better active and public transport is the key, not new roads, despite a Brisbane City Council push to build a new North West Transport Corridor (NWTC)(1, 2)  More than half (56 per cent) of the 1368 residents who responded to the council's online poll on the best way to improve transport in the northwest said they wanted better train and bus services.  Another 12 per cent said bicycle networks needed to be improved with only 26 per cent said roads were the best way to fix the area's transport woes.  The results were even more overwhelming for face-to-face polls, with two-thirds of respondents calling for better public transport and 9 per cent better bike infrastructure.

Despite this overwhelming support for investing in active and public transport, BCC summary of feedback states "Although public transport is seen as a solution to reducing demand on the road network, it is not a viable option for many trips due to a range of issues which has led to a reliance on car trips".  Cities have moved on from this thinking, especially in a COVID-19 world, and it shows just how out of touch BCC transport planning is!!  The reliance on car trips has actually been created by Council's prioritisation of driving over walking, cycling and public transport.  Leading practice targets 60% of trips to be by active and public transport.  It is BCC's biased perspective that has resulted in Brisbane only having around 20% of trips by walking, cycling and public transport.

RAIL Back On Track subsequently calls on Brisbane City Council to immediately abandon any plans for a road along the NWTC and for the Department of Transport and Cross River Rail Authority to commence design work for a new rail line along the corridor including connection to the CRR tunnels at Roma Street and associated bus network changes/improvements.

RAIL Back On Track continues to highlight that building more roads has only ever increased congestion (3) and that building active and public transport infrastructure creates up to twice as many much needed jobs than the same investment in building more road capacity (4).

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

References:

1. North west transport network - Community consultation
https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-and-transport/roads-infrastructure-and-bikeways/bridges-tunnels-culverts-and-transport-links/north-west-transport-network
   
2. "Council poll suggests most respondents don't think better roads are the answer to the problem"
https://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/the-13-northwest-brisbane-roads-you-hate-the-most/news-story/7ab19a615561c947729984aeb1ae936f

3. Time to Prioritise Active & Public Transport not waste taxes on More Freeways
https://www.facebook.com/160527347294794/posts/3597628756917952/?d=n

4. Up to Twice as Many Jobs by Investing in Active & Public Transport
https://www.facebook.com/160527347294794/posts/3625641537450007/?d=n

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1289639359092682752

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