On the Footpaths

[ozbob]

More people walk on footpaths than any other mode ...   

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Council's gift to CBD jaywalkers

Council's gift to CBD jaywalkers
Amelia Bentley
October 25, 2010 - 6:51AM

Work will soon start on a jaywalk across Eagle Street in Brisbane's CBD to turn it into a crossing for the thousands of pedestrians who risk it daily.

Brisbane City Council will this week begin installing pedestrian lights after recognising a busy section, between Creek and Queen streets, is one of the worst spots for jaywalkers in the city.

However work on the signalled crossing, to be erected in front of the Riverside Centre, is not expected to be completed until early next year.

The council says up to 6000 pedestrians risk their lives every day crossing Eagle Street near the Riverside Centre and the Pig 'N' Whistle pub.

Pedestrians often make it halfway, standing on a narrow median strip before dashing around oncoming traffic.

Lights are to be installed following a number of accidents in recent years and a petition organised by Eagle Street newsagent owner Jordan Cowen.

The construction work includes road re-surfacing, building new kerbing at the crossing point, adjusting bus stop locations in Eagle Street and removing the existing centre median strip.

The majority of the work will be done between 8am and 5am.

Night works start on Wednesday, October 27.

The council expects the crossing to be finished by January next year.

[Jonno]

Has anyone noticed that the traffic lights at the major city intersections in the CBD have been changed so you MUST push the pedestrian button to get a green walking light.  It is extremely dangerous as pedestrians expect to be able to walk and drivers think the norm is for them to have right of way.  The default should be a green walk sign.  Such a change runs against the above article.

[ozbob]

The other thing that has been creeping into the road and footpath network is the elimination of protected pedestrian crossings with just a refuge in the middle of the road.  Two examples come to mind, the crossing at Corinda in front of the Coles supermarket across Oxley road (very dangerous crossing) and the one at Darra in Manburgh Tce western end.  A crossing on the Oxley roundabout went the same way as well, just dash for your life ...

The Council talks rubbish.

[Jonno]

PS As the majority of those crossing Eagle St are not within 20m of traffic signals they are not Jaywalking.  They are crossing the road.  Poor reporting Courier Mail or misleading press release Council.

[Golliwog]

As an aside, I think more intersections in the CBD should change how the pedestrian phase operates. Instead of having pedestrians and traffic crossing in the same direction, I think they should try more intersections operating like the Edward St intersection with a dedicated pedestrian phase so they can cross in any direction they need.

[O_128]

As an aside, I think more intersections in the CBD should change how the pedestrian phase operates. Instead of having pedestrians and traffic crossing in the same direction, I think they should try more intersections operating like the Edward St intersection with a dedicated pedestrian phase so they can cross in any direction they need.

id like to see the edward street phase run for longer aswell. also the city really needs to introduce count down timers

[ozbob]

Courier Mail --> Pedestrian death numbers worry police

[Jonno]

This does not surprise me. We are building our roads so that they are the sole domain of the motor vehicle and pedestrians are unexpected.  These same roads have breed a culture of drivers who have no respect for anything other than their right to drive where ever and whenever they like with the expectation of no congestion or hazards like pedestrians, trees or parked cars.

[#Metro]

I have a very strong suspicion that a motorway is "pencilled in" for Stafford Road linking Airport link across to Trouts Road "orbital" motorway and then through to Toowong Tunnel and Northern Link (Legacy Way).

[ozbob]

Presently at Stafford City Shopping Centre.  Caught a 325 from Roma St.  This shopping centre in terms of pedestrian access and thoroughfares around it is a shocker.  Been built for cars, and it is rather awkward for pedestrians ....  stupid car-centric design ...

[Jonno]

If it was a train station we would call it a Park n' Ride.

[#Metro]

Presently at Stafford City Shopping Centre.  Caught a 325 from Roma St.  This shopping centre in terms of pedestrian access and thoroughfares around it is a shocker.  Been built for cars, and it is rather awkward for pedestrians ....  stupid car-centric design ...

The bus stop isn't even properly connected to the shopping centre by continuous walkways.
The other problem is the 375 bus- is needs to go around the back, waste time, to access and depart from the odd bus stop there.

[johnnigh]

Just in case the media pay no attention:
From the Brisbane CBD Bicycle User Group (500+members)
10 March 2011

Cyclists slam car tunnels as sink holes for taxpayer dollars and community amenity

The Brisbane Central Business District Bicycle User Group (CBD BUG) has slammed the Queensland Government for its road tunnelling mindset, after it was revealed in a previously unpublished 2008 technical report prepared for the Coordinator-General that dramatic traffic increases will clog a large number of Brisbane's northern suburbs roads after the $4.8 billion Airport Link tunnel between Bowen Hills and Toombul opens next year.

CBD BUG spokesman Paul French said the report proves what was already known from the experiences of a multitude of other jurisdictions – that building more road space for cars does not eliminate traffic congestion – it simply moves it around to create more bottlenecks elsewhere.

The alarming possibility for taxpayers is that they may now have to stump up for yet another tunnel, this time under Stafford Road, apparently under consideration to cater for the significant additional traffic travelling to and from Airport Link.  According to Mr French this perfectly exhibits the total futility of building additional roads for cars, because you continue to have to build even more roads to deal with the traffic congestion arising from the previous project.

"The road tunnel network currently under construction is largely replicating the 1960's motorways planning of the Department of Main Roads.  Government attempts to solve Brisbane's traffic congestion by digging tunnels are an out-dated approach that is both economically irresponsible and socially damaging.  The 1960's motorway network devised for Brisbane will be redundant withf the upwardly spiralling petrol prices of this millennium" Mr French said.

"This state's wealth from the mining boom is being squandered on white elephant projects for motorists instead of building the sustainable and environmentally friendly public and active transport system that Brisbane residents have been call on the government to implement.  You only have to look to Melbourne with its extensive light rail system built with the wealth from the 1850's gold rush, to see how a public transport system can serve a large community for well over 100 years.  But, the Queensland Government makes the mind-boggling decision on 'cost grounds' to defer delivering the Cross River Rail Link until four years after the local rail system reaches 100% capacity" he said.

In a de facto admission that public and active transport modes such as cycling are the only genuine solutions to traffic congestion the State Government is apparently planning a cycleway and transit lanes to reduce demand for car travel on the soon to be completely traffic clogged Stafford Road.

However, Mr French pointed out that north side commuters may have to endure years of traffic delays due to the time interval between the Airport Link's 2012 opening and the suggested traffic congestion solutions being installed.  Furthermore, real solutions to traffic congestion – improved rail, bus and active transport networks – could have been built for a fraction of the Airport Link's massive financial and social prices to the community.
Ends

Media contact: Paul French  0423 974 825

[johnnigh]

Regarding Pedestrian crossings: Recall that the pseudo-science  and practice of traffic engineering has the mantra that traffic flow is the only KPI of interest, and traffic accidents to cars one of the factors that slow traffic flows. Ped Xings cause nose-arse prangs to cars, therefore should be avoided. Therefore, to warrant (a technical term) a zebra xing, so many ,000/per hour peds must be measured over an arbitrarily long period. This ensures that xings will continue to disappear. Ped injury and death at a location changes only the priority for putting works on a waiting list, not a change to the warrant.

Blather about active transport from pollies and PR is just that and no more. Don't trust anything they say about it. They are routinely lying through their teeth.

[Jonno]

Ahhh Whilst they are correct the tunneling plans are all the Lord Mayors! Research TransApex and look
where the madness started.

[#Metro]

Regarding Pedestrian crossings: Recall that the pseudo-science  and practice of traffic engineering has the mantra that traffic flow is the only KPI of interest, and traffic accidents to cars one of the factors that slow traffic flows. Ped Xings cause nose-arse prangs to cars, therefore should be avoided. Therefore, to warrant (a technical term) a zebra xing, so many ,000/per hour peds must be measured over an arbitrarily long period. This ensures that xings will continue to disappear. Ped injury and death at a location changes only the priority for putting works on a waiting list, not a change to the warrant.

Blather about active transport from pollies and PR is just that and no more. Don't trust anything they say about it. They are routinely lying through their teeth.

I too would challenge this view- think about this. If a level train crossing is always getting hit by cars, despite having boom gates, bells and flashing lights then what are the chances that these crashes at pedestrian crossings are the result of cars trying to beat the crossing and then having to screech to a stop. Not really the pedestrians fault is it.

How about a small speed hump where crossings are- raise the crossing up so that the crossing is on the top of the speed hump.

[ozbob]

Discussion on footpaths on 612 ABC Brisbane Breakfast this morning.  Hopefully will be up on their blog later today.

[ozbob]

612 ABC Brisbane radio -->Breakfast with Spencer Howson

Labor promises to widen footpaths

19 April 2011 , 8:05 AM by Spencer Howson

[nitramluap]

612 ABC Brisbane radio -->Breakfast with Spencer Howson

Labor promises to widen footpaths

19 April 2011 , 8:05 AM by Spencer Howson

Footpaths are far too narrow, particularly in suburban areas - two people can't pass easily and if you you're disabled, forget about it!

Do we also really need little strips of grass between the footpaths & the kerb? Council has to pay to maintain this. Why not wider footpaths with trees planted between modes (footpath - trees - cyclepath - trees - parked cars - road lane)? It might cost money initially but there won't be much in the way of ongoing costs.

[Golliwog]

In new estates, maybe. But how much land are you planning on taking from peoples front yards?

[Jonno]

Why is the immediate assumption it has to come from front yards.  Our roads are far to wide for their intended purpose in most cases hence the speeding we see.  Complete streets are the way to go. Share all the street not just create realms for the Mighty Car!!

[Golliwog]

I'm just thinking of many of the recently (last 10 years?) built estates where the streets are 2 cars wide, tops. If someone parks on the side of the road then it can easily cause issues.

Many of the older ones also don't have that much space either.

[Mobility]

"The road tunnel network currently under construction is largely replicating the 1960's motorways planning of the Department of Main Roads.  Government attempts to solve Brisbane's traffic congestion by digging tunnels are an out-dated approach that is both economically irresponsible and socially damaging.  The 1960's motorway network devised for Brisbane will be redundant withf the upwardly spiralling petrol prices of this millennium" Mr French said.

Clem Jones' 1961 plan for Brisbane freeways was not entirely implemented. We never got the planned northern and eastern freeways. You can't blame a plan which was not fully implemented.

[Mobility]

I'm just thinking of many of the recently (last 10 years?) built estates where the streets are 2 cars wide, tops. If someone parks on the side of the road then it can easily cause issues.

Many of the older ones also don't have that much space either.

Also, every time a bus stops on a two-lane road (the narrower roads with no room for buses to pull over) it blocks the left lane. In peak times cars following these buses have to stop and wait to change to the right lane. (This must therefore add to road congestion.) If there were only one lane, all traffic on it would stop for buses each time they did, unless the lanes were made wide enough for buses to pull over at stops.

[Mobility]

I too would challenge this view- think about this. If a level train crossing is always getting hit by cars, despite having boom gates, bells and flashing lights then what are the chances that these crashes at pedestrian crossings are the result of cars trying to beat the crossing and then having to screech to a stop. Not really the pedestrians fault is it.

Maybe in some cases but many pedestrians routinely walk against the lights at intersections.

Are bus drivers more pedestrian friendly than auto drivers? I and others have observed instances of buses driving through pedestrian walkways after the WALK signal has appeared. A driver is a driver, whether his objective is to get to work on time in his car or keep on schedule in his bus. They are both capable of the same mistakes.

[Mobility]

Footpaths are far too narrow, particularly in suburban areas - two people can't pass easily and if you you're disabled, forget about it!

Do we also really need little strips of grass between the footpaths & the kerb? Council has to pay to maintain this. Why not wider footpaths with trees planted between modes (footpath - trees - cyclepath - trees - parked cars - road lane)? It might cost money initially but there won't be much in the way of ongoing costs.

Footpaths are too narrow (barely fit two abreast or passing in opposite directions) and should be widened but the trees would be an obstruction. Overhanging branches of many existing trees planted alongside footpaths greatly obstruct pedestrians. They would definitely obstruct cyclists on bike paths. There would be an ongoing cost - trees have to be maintained.

Bus stops also obstruct footpaths. You have a bus shelter and a signpost just over a meter apart either side of the footpath and people waiting to hail the bus always stand in this space and make it even narrower. In the CBD during peak times footpaths are hugely blocked by crowds of people waiting at bus stops at close intervals all along the street.

Footpaths in the CBD in peak times are presently overcrowded during peak times by both pedestrians and bus commuters. They would have to be greatly widened just to accommodate the present number of pedestrians. How wide would they have to be to accommodate a great increase in the number of pedestrians from people switching to "active transport"? How will they also accommodate the increased number of bus commuters waiting at stops?

The same thing is true of walkways at train stations, particularly the inner city ones. Increase train commuting and this will get much worse. How can the concourses be made much bigger? Go Card has added to this problem by causing queues at gates while each person swipes his card and by making the gates effectively narrower.

How would all of this be coordinated?

[Mobility]

Blather about active transport from pollies and PR is just that and no more. Don't trust anything they say about it. They are routinely lying through their teeth.

It's a very good act. In the last few years bus purchases have gone from 29 buses per year to 150. The City Council have been fervently installing "traffic calming" in residential streets, against the wishes of residents expressed at many "community consultation" meetings organized by local councilors. (Apparently they obstruct some residents' access to their driveways.) Campbell Newman and his Environment, Parks and Sustainability Chairman, (Liberal Party) Councilor Peter Matic, recently resumed the enormous "Milton Tennis Courts" property to "save" it from development (in separate blocks by nine different buyers) and have begun turning it into an "exciting parkland". Cam and Pete certainly talk a mean "sustainable development", to the point of also setting up a "sustainability focused community behavior change campaign" (called 'I  BNE') http://www.petermatic.com.au/about.php?type=Peter

If they are going so far to make it look like they are delivering "sustainability" that they create a program to influence other people to support it  (i.e., practically hang themselves), I think you have to admit that they really do support it themselves and the reason they are slow to deliver is not that they don't want to, but that Matic hasn't "changed the behavior" of enough voters yet. Sustainable Development is not contrary to business interests. For instance, it has created a billion-dollar "clean energy" industry.  The increased train, bus, cycling and pedestrian infrastructure and the proposed massive restructuring of the entire built environment (particularly housing) to make society "PT/active transport - centric" will be far more lucrative for the construction and many other industries than road infrastructure for autos will be for the oil, construction and car industries.

Interesting note about the Milton Tennis Courts property: The president of CRAMED told me in person (while they were campaigning to stop the development) that if the property were to be developed, they would prefer it to be developed wholly by a single developer rather than by a number of independent developers. That would mean that CRAMED favor bigger development by bigger developers, would it not? The reason she gave mr esd that a single development would be more integrated. I thought community groups were supposed to be against big development; yet here is one which exhibits unquestioning faith in big developers.

[Zoiks]

Iirc the tennis site is that of a flood plane. Not something you want for residential development.

[Mobility]

^ That's why the council is now working on major reconstruction of drainage on that property and in the surrounding area. CRAMED also used that reason for opposing the development, and AFTER the council resumed the property, they started on fixing the problem by improving the drainage system. Why couldn't they have done that for the sake of the development intended by the purchasers of the land? The council is supposed to improve local amenities for private (residential and business) use as well as it's own (sorry, public) use.

The "tennis courts" property is not only that property which is a "flood plain". The whole surrounding area (much of it residential) is roughly on the same level and during the recent floods it was all flooded, including the primary school on one side of the "tennis courts" and Milton park on the other side. The Rosalie shopping center went completely under. Are all residents, businesses and government services now supposed to vacate the area?

What developer would be stupid enough to build something which is going to be destroyed by flooding, and what kind of tenants would be stupid enough to move into it? Their aim is to make money, so they would not build something which is unusable. And remember, CRAMED said they prefer big "integrated" development to small developments on the property, which implies that their supposed "flood plain" problem could be solved by developers. It hasn't stopped the Council from building an "exciting parkland" there. Perhaps one day, that parkland will become an "integrated development", CRAMED's second preference. The Council has been known to "change it's mind".

[Mobility]

Why is the immediate assumption it has to come from front yards.  Our roads are far to wide for their intended purpose in most cases hence the speeding we see.

If you narrow the roads, there is no room for buses to pull over at stops out of the way of traffic in left or single lanes. (Similarly extra road space is required for on-street car or truck parking.) Also, buses are wider than cars and because they are also longer they require more space for turning at intersections. A road which is "too wide" for cars may still be close to the width required for bus use. The same goes for other large road vehicles.

Complete streets are the way to go. Share all the street not just create realms for the Mighty Car!!

This discussion of pedestrian crossings is forgetting the even "mightier" bus. "Sustainable transport" advocates want buses every five minutes on every route. Since all routes pass through the CBD, that's a lot of buses being funneled through the CBD from all areas outside it. There are already many buses passing through the city, and most of them run only about half-hourly. Making them run every five minutes would greatly increase that number. So in the CBD your car-pedestrian problem would be replaced by a bus-pedestrian problem.

People say "one bus takes 45 cars off the road", but the reality is that buses are not always carrying 45 people. Even in the city during peak times I see many which are empty, either because they are "out of service" or because outbound buses in the mornings and inbound buses in the evenings have set down all their inbound passengers or are yet to pick up their outbound passengers. So really you have buses entering or leaving the CBD empty or near empty and other buses overcrowded. To relieve the overcrowding, and accommodate the further increase in bus commuters which "sustainable transport" advocates demand, you need more frequent buses on each route, which then just increases the number of empty seats on  "idle" buses.

Therefore the number of buses, from the point of view of pedestrians, should still be comparable to the present number of cars through the CBD. And by making more people use buses, you have increased the number of pedestrians in the CBD, because those people have to walk to their bus stops instead of to their cars.

[WTN]

Why is the immediate assumption it has to come from front yards.  Our roads are far to wide for their intended purpose in most cases hence the speeding we see.

If you narrow the roads, there is no room for buses to pull over at stops out of the way of traffic in left or single lanes. (Similarly extra road space is required for on-street car or truck parking.) Also, buses are wider than cars and because they are also longer they require more space for turning at intersections. A road which is "too wide" for cars may still be close to the width required for bus use. The same goes for other large road vehicles.

Why not have indented bus bays/loading zones where needed instead of full lanes everywhere? Which roads are you talking about? Wide 4+ lane roads or narrow 2 lane streets? Also remember it's illegal to park next to intersections so they're wider anyway.

This discussion of pedestrian crossings is forgetting the even "mightier" bus. "Sustainable transport" advocates want buses every five minutes on every route. Since all routes pass through the CBD, that's a lot of buses being funneled through the CBD from all areas outside it. There are already many buses passing through the city, and most of them run only about half-hourly. Making them run every five minutes would greatly increase that number. So in the CBD your car-pedestrian problem would be replaced by a bus-pedestrian problem.

People say "one bus takes 45 cars off the road", but the reality is that buses are not always carrying 45 people. Even in the city during peak times I see many which are empty, either because they are "out of service" or because outbound buses in the mornings and inbound buses in the evenings have set down all their inbound passengers or are yet to pick up their outbound passengers. So really you have buses entering or leaving the CBD empty or near empty and other buses overcrowded. To relieve the overcrowding, and accommodate the further increase in bus commuters which "sustainable transport" advocates demand, you need more frequent buses on each route, which then just increases the number of empty seats on  "idle" buses.

Therefore the number of buses, from the point of view of pedestrians, should still be comparable to the present number of cars through the CBD. And by making more people use buses, you have increased the number of pedestrians in the CBD, because those people have to walk to their bus stops instead of to their cars.

Sustainable transport isn't all about buses. It's about walking, cycling, ferries and trains too. Not all people or buses are going to the CBD. The bus routes that are going to the CBD are often already running at high frequencies - the 130 does up to 7 minutes. Many more are less than 1/2 hour. Increasing the capacity doesn't necessarily mean increasing the number of buses. There are bigger buses, trams, and trains. The latter having the greatest potential capacity.

The pedestrian problem is solvable - look at what Europe is doing, and look at how our bus stations are designed - they have footbridges or underpasses. You might also want to check how many traffic lanes are on our CBD streets, compared to the width of the footpaths.

[ozbob]

From the Couriermail click here!

Dangerous footpaths put pedestrians at risk

Dangerous footpaths put pedestrians at risk

    by: Sarah Vogler
    From: The Courier-Mail
    September 26, 2011 12:00AM

MORE than 300km worth of Brisbane's footpaths have been identified as dangerous, according to the latest City Hall audit.

The audit, which covers the last five years of inspections, found about 324km were classified as C-grade - cracked or displaced to the extent it may pose a problem for a pedestrian.

A further 1436km of footpath were found to be damaged by some form of cracking.

The audit also found that 2521km of footpaths were in good condition.

The figures come as a recent Queensland councils-commissioned survey found ratepayers across the state were becoming more and more dissatisfied with the maintenance and provision of footpaths.

Footpaths attracted one of the lowest ratings in its category in the Local Government Association's Community Satisfaction Survey, with the basic services and infrastructure category receiving its lowest ranking since the survey began in 1997.

This year alone more than 46km of footpath was identified as posing a trip hazard, with the majority of the faulty footpaths found in flooded suburbs.

The worst suburbs overall were Acacia Ridge, Woolloongabba, Annerley, Coorparoo, Clayfield, Inala, Upper Mt Gravatt, Darra, Rocklea and Coopers Plains.

The number of dangerous footpaths in Brisbane has reduced in the last two years, down from 411km in 2009.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said while still high, the fact that the number of C-grade footpaths was dropping was a good sign.

Footpaths that fell into that category were generally fixed within two days, depending on how serious the damage was, Cr Quirk said.

Opposition councillors, however, claimed the figures were proof the basics were still being neglected.

"I don't think in the circumstances that the figure is too bad," Cr Quirk said.

"There is always room for improvement but we are continuing to invest at a high level in footpath maintenance and, indeed, in new footpaths."

"When you have an asset as large as footpaths in a city as large as Brisbane there are always going to be some jobs out there that need doing."

However, Opposition Leader Shayne Sutton said local government was about taking care of the basics and she believed the council was failing in its duty.

"Footpaths are council's most basic and essential infrastructure item, but they are being neglected by this LNP administration," she said.

Brisbane City Council's 2011-12 budget includes $35 million to fix suburban footpaths and build new ones.

The ALP has pledged to spend $70 million on new footpaths over four years, with $5 million spent to fast-track repairs if they gain the majority at the March City Hall election.

------------
COUNCIL PAYS HIGH PRICE FOR FALLS

Almost three-quarters of public liability claims lodged against Brisbane City Council last financial year related to footpaths, new figures reveal.

The figures, released to The Courier-Mail under Right to Information, show that of the 170 claims lodged, about 120 - around 70 per cent - related to trips and falls on footpaths and nature strips.

A council spokesman said 13 claims totalling $17,114 had been paid out last financial year, and about 11 of those claims were footpath-related.

The majority of falls reported occurred in the CBD, followed by New Farm, Hamilton and the Wynnum area.

About nine complaints related to injuries caused by pot holes, while bikeway injuries accounted for seven complaints. One person alleged they were injured by walking into a glass door due to insufficient signage, while another reported their injury after cutting their finger when drawing their hand out of a book return chute at a council library.

Two cyclists alleged insufficient signage caused them to inadvertently ride their bikes down a set of stairs, while another was injured after riding into a traffic island they alleged was also insufficiently signed.

Another complaint involved a young child, allegedly injured when they fell into a book box at the Carindale library.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said if a dangerous footpath was reported to the council, it was generally inspected within hours of a complaint being lodged. Council officers then determined how to fix the problem with most repaired within two days.

[ozbob]

From the Couriermail Quest click here!

Disability support groups flag concerns

Disability support groups flag concerns
Anthony Gough, City North News
From: Quest Newspapers
November 17, 2011 12:00AM

CONSTRUCTION on the northside has become a nightmare for people with disabilities, with support groups saying the streets are too dangerous to navigate safely.

Disability support groups have flagged concerns with the changing conditions stemming from the construction, including loss of accessiblity and lack of communication.

Queenslanders with Disability Network manager Fran Vicary said she had received complaints from concerned members about narrow detours, uneven pavements and the constantly changing streetscape caused by construction of Airport Link.

"It's dangerous. It's the changing conditions, lack of signage, lack of clear points of access and often different gradings that make it less accessible," she said.

Ms Vicary said one member had broken her wheelchair on the uneven surfaces and another member was forced to take taxis everywhere because of the construction.

She said people with disabilities felt their needs were not respected when it came to major works, and there had been no communication between the local disability support groups and Airport Link contractor, Thiess John Holland.

Other disability support groups also flagged concerns with the changing conditions stemming from the construction, including loss of accessiblity and lack of communication.

But Thiess John Holland communications manager Deirdre McCue said the company was in regular contact with community organisations, and communicated with the public about upcoming work via letterbox drops and email.

She said the company and an independent auditor undertook regular footpath inspections of its Airport Link project.

"TJH works with community members in response to any concerns they raise," she said.

A spokesman for State Development Minister Andrew Fraser said while the Airport Link project at times caused inconvenience to locals, pedestrian safety was paramount.

[Jonno]

But Thiess John Holland communications manager Deirdre McCue said the "Airport Link is designed to force everyone to drive and that the really 'Cool' people would never walk anywhere. We at Airport Link have done our best to completely destroy the surrounding suburbs so no one lives there as well"

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Tech-absorbed pedestrians using mobile phones to text or talk risking death

[Mobility]

We are building our roads so that they are the sole domain of the motor vehicle and pedestrians are unexpected.  These same roads have breed a culture of drivers who have no respect for anything other than their right to drive where ever and whenever they like with the expectation of no congestion or hazards like pedestrians, trees or parked cars.

At the pedestrian crossing on Melbourne St near the South Brisbane busway station, where the buses turn left into the busway tunnel, there are now glass sliding doors preventing pedestrians from crossing when there is no walk signal. This part of Melbourne St is exclusively for bus use. Apparently buses are as much a hazard to pedestrians as cars.

Our roads are far to wide for their intended purpose in most cases hence the speeding we see.  Complete streets are the way to go. Share all the street not just create realms for the Mighty Car!!

The above example shows that realms are being created for the Mighty Bus.

[Mr X]

Couriermail --> Tech-absorbed pedestrians using mobile phones to text or talk risking death

Almost hit a pedestrian on upper Boundary St today driving through west end.
Turned left into it from Melbourne St (after turning right from Browning) and as per usual the pedestrian assumed I would stop and walked out around 10-20m in front of me, luckily I was going slow and my car has good brakes but it was raining and the road was slippery so very dangerous to do. Pedestrian had ipod earphones in ears and was texting, didn't even look. 

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Faulty Brisbane CBD footpaths hell on heels

[Golliwog]

There was an article on BT (I think) earlier in the week about a teenager who had been walking on the side of the road and was hit and knocked over by the side mirror of a van going the other way down the road. Basically, pedestrian guy had taken the driver to court for damages, and won on the grounds that despite it being a road, the car should have gone around and not assumed he would move off the road.