9 Dec 2023: Sydney’s Rozelle Interchange Disaster Showcases Brisbane Future

[ozbob]

Sydney's Rozelle Interchange Disaster Showcases Brisbane Future

9th December 2023

RAIL Back On Track spokesman Robert Dow said the traffic chaos that ensued with the recent opening of Rozelle Interchange in Sydney provides the perfect showcase into the future of a Gympie Road tunnel (1, 2).

Headlines have been scathing and they are spot on:

"Rozelle Interchange design issues will be a problem for Sydney's future, experts say"

"A tsunami of traffic chaos': the new Sydney motorway prompting calls for a royal commission"

"Rozelle Interchange was meant to ease congestion on Sydney roads. So what went wrong?"

This is what happens when you prioritise driving over public transport, walking, cycling and mobility devices.

Industry experts are highlighting in Sydney (1):

"You can't solve congestion, we solved congestion during COVID when nobody was travelling — the question is, whether you have people on high-capacity public transport, on footpaths, on e-scooters.

"That's the question about what congestion you want, not can you solve it."

Christopher Standen, an urban transport and planning expert with the University of NSW, said the interchange was emblematic of poor infrastructure planning in Australia.

"It was always clear that it would be a disaster for Sydney and that's played out," he said.

"There were votes to be had in making it easier for people in outer suburbs to drive into the city, even though that's not a great thing from an urban planning perspective.

"The last thing we should be doing is building roads that encourage people to drive more and to move further away from work, so encouraging urban sprawl and low-density development."

The Palaszczuk Government and Schrinner Council must abandon any thought of a Gympie Road tunnel to avoid the same headlines being repeated here in Brisbane.

RAIL Back On Track again calls for both levels of Governments to focus more transport spending on public and active transport service improvements such as:

Separated active transport paths/lanes

Bus priority

SEQ Bus Network Overhaul

Increased Train and Bus Frequencies

Expanding Cycling Facilities

Children Free Travel around the clock on public transport in Queensland

The problem with "balancing transportation" - if you've been building for cars for decades, other modes can't catch up without prioritizing.
Brent Toderian

"A city's creativity doesn't depend on cars. That's the 20th century. We're in the 21st."
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo

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

References:

1. Rozelle Interchange design issues will be a problem for Sydney's future, experts say
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-05/nsw-rozelle-interchange-design-experts/103186410

2. 'It's a forever problem': Experts say Rozelle hell is here to stay
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/it-s-a-forever-problem-experts-say-rozelle-hell-is-here-to-stay-20231130-p5eo2o.html

[ozbob]

https://x.com/railbotforum/status/1733474591706869854?s=20

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