Article: Brisbane footpath danger everywhere

[ozbob]

From the Courier Mail click here!

Brisbane footpath danger everywhere

Brisbane footpath danger everywhere
Article from: The Courier-Mail

By Bruce McMahon

May 01, 2009 12:00am

BRISBANE has hundreds of kilometres of broken and dangerous footpaths with some ratepayers saying they face dangers on a daily basis.
There are 1452km of footpaths considered in good condition, 2294km are beginning to crack and a further 411km which may be dangerous to pedestrians.

Brisbane City Council will spend $14 million on maintaining footpaths this year but some ratepayers face daily dangers.

At Highgate Hill residents struggle with a poorly lit bitumen path, buckled by tree roots as Laura St heads towards the Goodwill Bridge.

"At night it's all black and you trip over lumps and down holes," says Christine Henneken "It's dangerous but council say there's nothing wrong with it."

At Norman Park six-week-old Bailey van Delden fell from his baby carrier and hit his head when his mother, Louise, tripped on a path.

In Holland Park 84-year-old war veteran Colin Farquhar is scared to ride his electric scooter on to a steep and unformed footpath.

Among the worst areas for safe strolling are Acacia Ridge with 7.9km of cracked or displaced footpaths, Rocklea with 7.8km and Annerley with 7.4km.

Coorparoo has 6.5km of footpaths "cracked or displaced to such extent that it may constitute a problem to pedestrians or vertical displacement greater than 10mm", according to figures obtained by Seven News through a Freedom of Information request.

An FOI investigation by The Courier-Mail last year revealed Brisbane's footpaths needed almost $50 million worth of upgrades.

About $1.1 million will be budgeted this year for new foothpaths across Brisbane but Lord Mayor Campbell Newman yesterday said the community also needed resources directed to road congestion.

He said the council had spent $55 million on footpaths since his election five years ago, compared to $42 million in the last five years of Labor.

"Council is determined to keep our footpaths safe, which is why we are spending $14 million this year alone on footpaths," Cr Newman said. "The fact is we don't have a footpath crisis at the moment. We have a traffic congestion crisis which council is determined to address while maintaining footpath expenditure."

But Labor Opposition leader Shayne Sutton said it was clear footpath maintenance was being neglected.

"This is basic council infrastructure that should be taken care of - this is bread-and-butter stuff," she said.

"If you were to lay all the dangerous paths out, you could walk from Brisbane to Bundaberg."

A BCC spokesman said any serious footpath hazards were dealt with by "flying gangs" within 48 hours.

[Jon Bryant]

Clearly our Lord Mayor is stick in the 1960's and thinks that the only solution to road congestion is more roads.  Little does he know that if he spent the 50 millions fixing the footpaths (and a bit more completing...I have not footpath outside my house) across the city and make walking atractive he might reduce congestion.  He is struck with such bad "tunnel Vision" that he is unable to se the whole picture.

What a shame.