Article: Back to the drawing board for Bulimba ferry

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Back to the drawing board for Bulimba ferry

Back to the drawing board for Bulimba ferry
Tony Moore
September 30, 2010 - 5:39AM

Bulimba's $4 million ferry terminal upgrade has stalled again after Brisbane City Council last night rejected the local councillor's plans for the upgrade.

Council's Public Transport and Active Transport chair Margaret de Wit last night said councillor Shayne Sutton's plans were unworkable.

"Cr Sutton's plan is to halve the size of the waiting area at Bulimba, which is at odds with all the predictions which show that passenger numbers are growing and growing," Cr de Wit said.

The suburb's ferry terminal is Brisbane's fifth-busiest, with more than 8000 passengers a week.

Last night's developments mean a five-month impasse on the plans will continue.

In May, Lord Mayor Campbell Newman put the plans on hold until 2012-13 after Cr Sutton asked for improvements to council's plans for the Bulimba ferry.

At the time, the administration described Cr Sutton's action as her being "unwilling to support" the project after they had spent $750,000 over two years preparing 20 solutions.

Earlier this month, Cr Newman asked that Cr Sutton submit new plans by today in order to get the project back on track.

Those new plans had to meet the requirements of the Department of Environment and Resource Management and Maritime Services Queensland.

It is understood both MSQ and the DERM have offered "in principle" support to Cr Sutton's plan.

Cr Sutton told a public meeting at Bulimba on Monday night, to discuss a proposed bridge between Bulimba and Teneriffe, that she hoped the terminal upgrade could now begin.

"It is my hope that once this letter is received, we can put all this rubbish - and it is rubbish - aside and get on and build the thing," Cr Sutton told the meeting.

Cr de Wit said terminals were designed for a 50-year life of future growth but Council officers were warning that Cr Sutton's design would force more upgrades in future years.

"Under Cr Sutton's plan, commuters would be at least 40 metres from the boarding zone with mums having to rush with prams and children down the walkway to get aboard," she said.

Cr Sutton has also suggested that a pedestrian refuge island be built at the intersection of Oxford and Quay streets, that traffic be slowed to 5kmh and that painted or paved areas delineate walking and driving areas.

Meanwhile, the need for the ferry terminal upgrade instead of a proposed bridge from Bulimba to Teneriffe has been promoted by civil engineer Stephen O'Brien.

Mr O'Brien said upgrading Bulimba's ferry terminal upgrade was better value than a bridge costing $100 million.

"This is nothing that could not be met by terminal upgrades and by new ferries, with increased seating capacity and provision for bicycles," he said.

"Perhaps the CityCats could fit the cross river into their route - a bridge is not the solution."

[O_128]

hmmm i agree with the 5km limit, oxford street would make a nice pedestrian mall