Article: Brisbane footpaths a $50m mess

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Brisbane footpaths a $50m mess

Brisbane footpaths a $50m mess
Article from: The Courier-Mail

By Alison Sandy

October 27, 2008 11:00pm

PEDESTRIANS in Brisbane are walking on footpaths that need almost $50 million worth of upgrades - but only $1.1 million will be spent this year.
A Brisbane City Council safety audit obtained by The Courier-Mail under Freedom of Information revealed it will cost $48 million to repair and redevelop more than 500km of footpath, prompting warnings of a legal minefield if it's ignored.

Some of the dangers identified include steep slopes, "toe trippers", service pits, exposed tree roots and missing sections of concrete, with many of the priorities yet to be funded relating to routes regularly used by school children and the elderly.

Another $5.2 million in spending has been proposed for next financial year, but the pedestrian peak body has labelled the results "frightening".

"If you bring to the council's attention a footpath and tell them it's dangerous, they've got to fix it and fix it properly," Pedestrian Council of Australia chairman Harold Scruby said. "Otherwise it's a lawsuit waiting to happen - if someone falls over, they're liable."

Mr Scruby acknowledged footpath neglect was a national problem, claiming some councils didn't even bother to find out the extent of the issues because, once they did, they were legally obligated.

Queensland University of Technology law lecturer Russell Hinchy said it depended whether a council had acted reasonably given the funding available and other priorities.

"The council would be expected to have proper systems in place to take account of what's reported and then act within a reasonable time frame if it's determined as dangerous," he said.

Brisbane City Council Opposition Leader Shayne Sutton said footpaths were being ignored in favour of tunnels. "Clearly the Lord Mayor (Campbell Newman) is neglecting the most basic, but important infrastructure for this city," she said.

Cr Newman refused to comment, but his office denied the documents provided to The Courier-Mail were part of a safety audit, referring to it as a "long list", which had not been assessed, resulting from people either asking for a footpath or footpath repair.

In a letter, the council's FoI manager said the list, which comprises about 2000 projects that had been individually costed, was "safety audit data for footpaths".

    * Worst wards for pedestrians
    * 1 Enoggera
    * 2 Wynnum/Manly
    * 3 Morningside
    * 4 The Gap
    * 5 Northgate
    * 6 Walter Taylor
    * 7 Toowong
    * 8 Marchant
    * 9 Doboy
    * 10 Jamboree

[Derwan]

We can't drive because the roads are congested.
We can't take public transport because it's overcrowded.
We can't walk because we might injure ourselves on the footpaths.

Let's just stay at home.   

[mark_from_briz]

I have noticed the bad state of footpaths throughout the city. We have a real mishmash of materials as well
some streets have  really bad wobbly cobblestone/pavers (glad i dont wear high heels LOL)
Some areas are badly broken concrete
Some areas usually near new buildings are the larger nicely level tiles/pavers
some areas are multi layered oft repaired asphalt..
Some corner curbs are ramped, some are not.. etc etc
It would be nice to have some consistency across the CBD

Also, i think Brisbane needs to consider more pedestrian subways/ or bridges  linked across the shopping areas (like sydney) as the foot paths are already at peak capacity at lunch times,

This will become worse as more apartments come online and masses of people migrate to the cbd...