Article: Infrastructure roll-out 'unprecedented'

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From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Infrastructure roll-out 'unprecedented'

Infrastructure roll-out 'unprecedented'
CAMERON ATFIELD
July 6, 2010 - 5:55AM

Combined, the Go Between Bridge, Gateway Bridge duplication and the Clem7 tunnel have added 14 traffic lanes crossing the Brisbane River within a three-month period, increasing the total from 32 to 46.

And next week's opening of the Ted Smout Memorial Bridge, between Sandgate and Redcliffe, will just add to the new transport infrastructure momentum, particularly over the past decade.

brisbanetimes.com.au has compiled an exhaustive list of south-east Queensland's transport infrastructure roll-out, using 1975's opening of the Riverside Expressway as a starting point.

Of the 57 major projects in those 35 years, nearly two thirds - 39 - have occurred in the past decade.

Playing catch-up, or planning for the future?

State Infrastructure Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said there was "no doubt" there was an element of catch-up in the infrastructure that had been delivered in recent years.

"But we're now seriously getting into the phase where we are providing for the future and that's been a function of doing the planning well," he said.

"So, no doubt there is an element of catch-up, but the strong infrastructure planning we have here in south-east Queensland and across the state ... that sort of stuff is evidence of the fact we are doing the planning for the future."

Brisbane's infrastructure-minded Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said transport development had been neglected for years.

"What's been built in the last six or seven years is catch-up, but having said that, I think the planning's now in place for the future at both state and council level," Cr Newman said.

"We've got a south-east Queensland infrastructure plan and we've also got a transport plan for council."

Both Mr Hinchliffe and Cr Newman said infrastructure planning co-operation between the two levels of government had improved over recent years.

"It was only in the mid-90s that we seriously began to do integrated transport planning for south-east Queensland and that was the first integrated transport plan for south-east Queensland, published in 1996," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"That was the first bit of significant integrated transport planning for the whole of south-east Queensland done at a state infrastructure level, rather than local authorities.

"So that set the tone and it was, I guess, the earlier version - a non-statutory version - of the South East Queensland Regional Plan in the late 90s."

Mr Hinchliffe said the current infrastructure program was unparalleled in the western world.

"I'm not aware of anywhere in the world doing this much [infrastructure construction] at once that is outside of those spectacularly exceptional examples in the Middle East," he said.

"We are a very fast growing first-world example - there's very few first-world regions that are experiencing growth like this and there are very few examples of where it's been planned well."

But it hasn't all been done well, according to the Lord Mayor.

"One of the most unfortunate things - and I'm not really sure of the alternative - was the Riverside Expressway," Cr Newman said.

"I think it was a real shame it was done that way - I'm not offering a solution, but I think it's pity it was done on that reach looking over to South Bank.

"We've got this huge mess of concrete in what should be a far more picturesque area.

"It would be great if there could be a way one day to eliminate it, but I just don't know how you'd do that at the moment."

Behind the eight-ball

Associate Professor John Minnery, an urban planning expert at the University of Queensland, said the recent ramp-up of infrastructure development was "quite phenomenal", but it was largely the result of past poor planning.

"I think we've been behind the eight-ball for a long time because things have been put off for so long," he said.

"The thing that, to me, shows this is playing catch-up rather than looking to the future is that the future really lies in learning how to deal with the car.

"And that means not just making more and more roads and freeways and tunnels, but looking seriously at options."

But the RACQ, Queensland's peak motoring body, said south-east Queensland's road network still needed a lot of attention.

"The most crucial long-term need for our strategic road network is a western bypass and orbital link for Brisbane," RACQ spokesman Jim Kershaw said.

"After many years of planning, there is now an agreed North-South Motorway alignment. It would link the Gympie Arterial road at Carseldine to Stafford Road using the preserved corridor along Trouts Road, and then tunnel through to the Western Motorway at Toowong."

Mr Kershaw said the recent infrastructure spend needed to be maintained.

"The Queensland Government has been playing catch-up for the past decade as little was achieved in the 1990s," he said.

"With on-going population growth and expected increases in congestion, governments need to keep spending at the rate of the past few years."

Has enough been done for public transport?

With the unprecedented investment in south-east Queensland's roads, some commentators have suggested public transport had been neglected.

Professor Minnery said the focus on roads designed for private vehicles had taken too much funding away from public transport infrastructure.

"The South Eastern Busway has been incredibly successful, way beyond expectations, because it's comfortable, it's reliable, it's speedy and all that sort of stuff," he said.

"They should really be looking at those alternative forms of transport and infrastructure, rather than just keeping to the road tunnels and projects like that."

Predictably, public transport advocate Robert Dow agreed with that sentiment.

Mr Dow, the spokesman for public transport lobby group Rail: Back on Track, said south-east Queensland planning had been too "car-centric" for more than four decades.

"If you go back to 1969, when they got rid of the trams, the mantra has been 'we're a car-focused society' and Clem Jones at the time saw the car as the main focus," he said.

"If we had kept the light rail network, we would have now the equivalent to Melbourne - a modern light rail network."

But Mr Dow said he was optimistic about the future, particularly for south-east Queensland's rail network.

"I really think they're starting to get it - that is, the Premier and the ministers - I think they're beginning to understand they need to do something," he said.

"We will see great leaps forward - I think we are on the threshold of a great thing. I'm very optimistic about the future and I think we're about to turn a corner here.

"There is a genuine feeling within Queensland Rail to move forward."

The Lord Mayor said other local authorities needed to pull their weight and provide more public transport options for south-east Queensland residents.

"I think other councils need to do more on the transport front, both public transport and roads," Cr Newman said.

"The councils that touch the boundary with Brisbane, none of them are funding public transport and they're being subsidised by Brisbane ratepayers - it's just outrageous.

"There doesn't seem to be any preparedness of those councils to step up to the plate which, to me, is a real pity."

Looking ahead

Cr Newman said aside from his two remaining TransApex projects - the Northern Link and East–West Link tunnels - the most important transport infrastructure for Brisbane would be the new inner-city rail network.

"If we don't get the inner-city rail project done, it affects the ability to run rail services right across the region," he said.

"The bottleneck of the Brisbane River prevents better rail services down at Beenleigh and north to Caboolture because you can't get the trains through."

The RACQ also regarded the State Government's ambitious rail project as a vital piece of transport infrastructure.

"The most important link for our strategic rail network is the Cross River Rail project, currently being planned. The new line should continue north and also link with a rail line along the Trouts Road corridor to Bald Hills," Mr Kershaw said.

"These are the most important new links but there are many existing highways that also need capacity increases."

A better, cheaper way?

However, Professor Minnery said the focus on big-ticket projects was at the expense of a more holistic approach.

"There's certainly a need to address some of the traffic problems, but I think there needs to be a more coherent overview," he said.

"Government tends to work in terms of projects and what it really needs is a coherent look at what kind of connections, what groups of projects, are really needed, both big things and small things in the appropriate places."

Professor Minnery said traffic solutions could be found without spending billions on tunnels and bridges.

"There are a number of small things that can be done that don't cost so much," he said.

"Having the bus being able to pull out of the lane of traffic when it picks up passengers is a relatively small thing, but it keeps the traffic flowing reasonably freely.

"That kind of thing adds to traffic movement without spending billions of dollars on a great big tunnel.

"The money that goes into a tunnel could be used on a whole range of options."

[#Metro]

"One of the most unfortunate things - and I'm not really sure of the alternative - was the Riverside Expressway," Cr Newman said.

"I think it was a real shame it was done that way - I'm not offering a solution, but I think it's pity it was done on that reach looking over to South Bank.

"We've got this huge mess of concrete in what should be a far more picturesque area.

"It would be great if there could be a way one day to eliminate it, but I just don't know how you'd do that at the moment."

I have an idea! Multi-billion $$$ tunnel! Put a toll on it!
This would be a tunnel project that I WOULD support.

Then remove the Expressway.