Frederick Street Bridge Alderley

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/ozbob13/status/1545051643578023936

Queensland Parliament E-Petitions

NO MONEY FOR DANGEROUS LEVEL CROSSING BUT MILLIONS FOR UNNECESSARY BRIDGE

https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-the-Assembly/Petitions/Petition-Details?id=3646

Posting Date: 5/11/2021
Closing Date: 3/5/2022
Tabled Date: 10/5/2022
Responded By: Hon Mark Bailey MP on 9/6/2022

TO: The Honourable the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland
Queensland residents draw to the attention of the House that every year people are injured at level crossings but the elimination of level crossings does not appear to be a government priority.

In January 2020 Queensland Rail announced the closure of the Frederick Street Bridge Alderley because it was unsafe, low use and within 450 metres of the Alderley Avenue Bridge.

Five months after that announcement, Cr Andrew Wines, Jimmy Sullivan MP and Mark Bailey MP agreed to re-build the bridge despite safety concerns that have been raised for years about the Wilston Road Newmarket level crossing (800 metres south of the Frederick Street Bridge) that remain unaddressed. This level crossing can be closed because there are two bridges and one underpass within 1.5 km and Wilston Road is signposted "Local Traffic Only".

The decision to spend millions of dollars rebuilding the bridge is a failure of both local and state governments to follow due process and has put Queenslanders in harm's way.

The Queensland Level Crossing Safety Strategy 2012-2021 states that TMR will explore opportunities to eliminate level crossings where appropriate, but no level crossings have been eliminated over the past 10 years.

Your petitioners, therefore, request the House to call on the Minister for Transport and Main Roads to make public safety his first priority by working with local governments to identify and eliminate at least 10 level crossings on the SEQ network and to make those plans public.

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Mr Bailey's response:

> https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/apps/E-Petitions/Home/DownloadResponse/69942a7a-3e3f-4ab1-9864-802056d568e8

9 June 2022
Mr Neil Laurie
The Clerk of the Parliament
Parliament House
George Street
BRISBANE QLD 4000

Dear Mr Laurie

I refer to petition 3646-21, lodged with the Legislative Assembly on 10 May 2022 about level
crossing safety.

The Palaszczuk Government is committed to delivering a modern, efficient, reliable, and safe
transport system that meets customer expectations now and into the future. Improvement
and treatment of level crossings is an important part of this future transport system.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has undertaken planning to assess
65 level crossings on the South East Queensland (SEQ) rail network. This planning is
informed by many issues, including safety, accessibility, road network performance and
planned changes on the rail network with the commencement of Cross River Rail. This work
informs the priority of each level crossing for further investigation and future funding
consideration.

The Palaszczuk Government continues to progress as a matter of priority planning for the
treatment of level crossings at Beams Road, Carseldine; Boundary Road, Coopers Plains
and at the Kianawah Road, Wynnum West crossing at Lindum Station.
Planning and projects are currently underway to improve travel times and increase network
capacity and efficiency across the rail network in SEQ. This includes between Brisbane and
the Gold Coast as part of the Logan and Gold Coast Faster Rail project (five level crossings)
and Beerburrum to Nambour (four level crossings), where consideration of targeted level
crossing removals as part of broader project investigations is continuing.

The Palaszczuk Government supports the development of a level crossing program for SEQ,
jointly planned, and funded across all levels of government, ensuring ongoing investment to
upgrade all level crossings. Adopting a program approach to level crossings would ensure
the best outcomes are achieved to improve the performance, safety, and resilience of the
transport network for all users, representing best value for the community.

As part of the recently released South East Queensland City Deal, TMR will work with the
Australian Government, Queensland Rail, and local governments to deliver a level crossing
prioritisation project to identify and agree on high priority level crossings in SEQ for further
detailed investigation. While there are no plans to close or upgrade the Wilston Road,
Newmarket level crossing at this time, this location would be considered along with other
level crossings in this joint project.

Regarding the replacement of the Frederick Street bridge, Queensland Rail undertook
community engagement prior to the full closure of the bridge in early 2020, which had been
open only to pedestrians and cyclists since 2012. This engagement took place with
community members, bridge users, residents and bike user groups, alongside collaboration
with Brisbane City Council. These engagement sessions identified that the community
wanted a replacement structure at this location to reinstate pedestrian and cycle connections
only. Queensland Rail continues to work closely with Brisbane City Council on the design of
the Frederick Street bridge and once finalised, will release the design to the community.

I trust this information is of assistance.

Yours sincerely
MARK BAILEY MP
Minister for Transport and Main Roads

[ozbob]

Queensland Rail is working to deliver a new active transport bridge in Alderley. 👷 🚴 We will be at Alderley station...

Posted by Queensland Rail on Sunday, 10 July 2022