Roads - articles and discussion

[ozbob]

Couriermail Quest --> Design for massive Brisbane roundabout upgrade revealed $

The design for a $126 million overpass at Indooroopilly has been revealed, with confirmation work will start imminently.

Final changes to the design include new access to Indooroopilly (Central) Shopping Centre and improved pedestrian crossing facilities at Stamford Rd and Coonan St.

The existing roundabout, near Indooroopilly Shopping Centre in Brisbane's inner west, is one of the most congested areas in the city and has not been upgraded for decades.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner revealed construction of the massive project would commence in the middle of the year, bringing relief to tens of thousands of motorists who use the Indooroopilly roundabout each day. ...

[Cazza]

How long is it going to take before Council realises that upgrading intersections barely reduces traffic congestion (if at all, induced demand isn't a new concept) and just pushes further down the road to the next bottleneck. Wardell/Samford Rd intersection "upgrade"- traffic has never been worse through here, with afternoon bank ups along Wardell St commonly going as far back as Victoria St, particularly after school time. In the AM peak, traffic will be bumper to bumper back to the McDowall Roundabout. Samford Rd westbound traffic goes no where fast due to the slow section through Mitchelton and an inbound run along Samford Rd of a morning only goes well until you join the traffic jams on Enoggera Rd.

No surprises of cause because if you don't live within walking distance of the Ferny grove line or the 345, there is no other option but the car. And even if you were to take the bus, it would be sitting in the same traffic as there are no bus lanes or priority anywhere. So the question is, would you rather sit in traffic in a bus, or the comfort of your own car. It's pretty clear what most have chosen.

And this is all before I even begin to speak my mind of the Wynnum Rd "upgrade". I sure wish I had $1 billion to spend on useless and redundant things. Councils just fortunate enough that it's our money they get to use instead.

Congestion is now worse than ever and will continue to be this way until we see an investtment in our bus and public transport network. Bus network overhaul, proper on-road bus priority measures, improved real time information and wayfinding, these are all things that do actually "bust congestion" as they get people out of cars and onto transport. You'd still have change after all this from a $1 billion price tag.

For the past few weeks, I've been screenshotting google maps with the traffic overlay on at various times of the day across the city and am getting quite a compilation together of traffic patterns and where buses are getting severely delayed. If you ever need a hand with any public transport planning BCC, you know where to find me...

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/BrentToderian/status/1403207948000645123

[ozbob]

https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/92667

Exit plan to bust M1 congestion
15th July 2021

JOINT STATEMENT

Premier and Minister for Trade
The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk

Minister for Transport and Main Roads
The Honourable Mark Bailey

Work on a major upgrade of the M1 Exit 41 at Yatala South has started, while residents also get their first look at proposed plans for a redesigned Exit 49 at Pimpama.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said investing in major transport infrastructure was an important part of Queensland's COVID-19 economic recovery plan.

"Upgrading the M1 is a major priority for my government," the Premier said.

"That's why we've worked hard to get the Prime Minister to match our funding to get more construction under way.

"This is a great win for Gold Coasters. This upgrade will ease pressure off one of several key bottlenecks on the northern end of the Gold Coast – helping to reduce commute times in the future.

"We'll continue to invest in infrastructure to create jobs and rebuild our economy."

Federal Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts, the Hon Paul Fletcher MP, said the upgrade would help people to get home sooner and safer.

"The Morrison Government is getting on with delivering infrastructure projects that improve congestion and safety for commuters across Australia, making it easier for them to move around our capital cities and ensuring they get home quickly and safely," Minister Fletcher said.

"Under the Urban Congestion Fund, we are delivering 178 individual packages of works nationwide. This project brings to 63 the total number of Urban Congestion Fund projects around Australia that are completed or underway. A further 59 are expected to start construction this year.

"This is just the latest example of us delivering on our commitment to progress critical infrastructure projects across the country under our record $110 billion 10-year infrastructure investment pipeline, which is helping to drive Australia's world-leading economic recovery."

Queensland Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey the upgrades to key exits were part of a record investment into the M1 and Gold Coast transport infrastructure.

"Queensland is investing a record $27.5 billion in roads and transport projects over four years to support our COVID-19 Economic Recovery Plan," Mr Bailey said.

"That investment is adding capacity to major roads and building better connections for growing communities to improve safety and ensure people spend less time stuck in traffic

"The job at Exit 41 and the upcoming upgrade at Exit 49 will support another 360 jobs, adding to the pipeline of work being supported on major Gold Coast projects.

"Two M1 upgrades between Brisbane and the Gold Coast were completed in early 2020, and now two much larger upgrades supporting about 1600 jobs are under construction.

"Work will also start this year on Stage 1 of the Second M1 and the next stage of light rail to Burleigh, supporting another 1400 jobs."

Federal Member for Forde, Bert van Manen MP, said the Exit 41 project was just the first of several M1 interchange upgrades planned to improve safety and reduce congestion.

"We are also planning upgrades for Exit 38 (Yatala North) and Exit 45 (Ormeau), with community consultation for the Exit 45 (Ormeau) safety improvements design and the Exit 49 (Pimpama) upgrade to start soon," Mr van Manen said.

"By keeping work flowing on projects like these, we continue to invest in the community during this difficult period.

"This investment is estimated to support an average of 179 direct jobs over the life of the project, when creating and maintaining jobs has never been more critical."

Member for Macalister Melissa McMahon said the Exit 41 upgrade would build a new bridge over the M1, creating additional traffic lanes and better managing traffic flow with new traffic lights.

"Anyone who uses Exit 41 knows how congested it gets during peak times, particularly with commercial vehicles accessing the industrial area to the west of the motorway.

"Having traffic lights to manage traffic flow will improve capacity on on-ramps and off-ramps," Ms McMahon said.

"TMR has also listened to community feedback and added a left-turn slip lane to the southbound off-ramp to allow traffic access Eastern Service Road without entering the interchange."

Member for Gaven Meaghan Scanlon said it was good news for motorists and tradies in the growing northern Gold Coast area, solving a key bottleneck and creating a pipeline of construction jobs.

"It means from the northern stretches of our city right through to the border, there's a total of $4.8 billion being invested to build better transport, create jobs and drive our plan for economic recovery," Ms Scanlon said.

"Many tradies in my community travel to the industrial area here every day, and upgrading the interchange means they'll be able to get to their next job or home quicker and spend less time on the M1."

City of Gold Coast Deputy Mayor Donna Gates said the start of works was brilliant news for our northern Gold Coast.

"This exit is critical to our burgeoning Yatala Enterprise Area and will be a welcome improvement for the transport operators there," the Deputy Mayor said.

"Council is working with State officers to ensure our local road upgrades in that area occur at the same time so the delay and inconvenience during works is only felt once by motorists. The long-term gain will be considerable."

The Exit 41 project is the first of several M1 interchange upgrades planned to improve safety and reduce congestion, with planning underway to upgrade Exit 38 (Yatala North) and Exit 45 (Ormeau).

Community feedback is being sought on recently release designs for the jointly-funded $110 million Exit 49 (Pimpama) upgrade while consultation will start soon on a plan for safety improvements at Exit 45 (Ormeau).

The Exit 49 Pimpama Interchange upgrade preliminary design includes:

A new bridge across the M1 with dedicated northeast-bound lanes
Reconfiguration of the existing bridge to accommodate southwest-bound traffic
Realignment of the on and off-ramps.
The upgrade will also include pedestrian and bike paths throughout the interchange to provide safe infrastructure for those who choose active travel to visit nearby shops and schools.

The preliminary design can be viewed by searching 'Exit 49' at www.tmr.qld.gov.au. Feedback can be provided by emailing exit49@tmr.qld.gov.au or calling 1800 317 373.

The final design is expected to be complete late this year with construction due to start in early next year.

The Australian and Queensland governments have committed $192.6 million towards upgrades of Exit 41 and Exit 49 interchanges, under a 50:50 funding arrangement.

For more information, visit www.tmr.qld.gov.au , email exit41@tmr.qld.gov.au or call 1800 955 939.

For up-to-date road condition information, call 13 19 40, visit www.qldtraffic.qld.gov.au or download the app.

ENDS

====

" ... bust M1 congestion ... "  <

[Fares_Fair]

Reminds me of that Utopia (starring Rob Sitch, Cecilia Celia Pacquola and Kitty Flanagan) episode where the roadworks reduce congestion and within 3 years it is all totally congested again...

[Cazza]

They had to delay the Richmond v Lions game last night at Metricon by 15 mins due to the teams arriving late because of the heavy traffic. Granted, there was an accident but it just goes to show how volatile the road network is.

But don't stress guys, the M1 (v.2) is coming soon so we can have another 3 lanes of cars bumper to bumper in each direction. If only there was a feasible solution out there to bust congestion...

[Cazza]

(Article from another thread)

Gold Coast Bulletin --> Qld Transport Minister Mark Bailey on light rail and why he's not afraid of Palm Beach protesters $

"If we do nothing, we'll be choked not just by traffic but instead of building parks we'll be building car parks. Public transportation is the key to a better, more liveable city."

Bailey, actions speak louder than words. We need to see you putting your money where your mouth is. It's all well and good to say we need improved public transport and not having car parks dominate our most valuable land around stations, but the:
-$300,000 Altandi P'n'R upgrade (providing an extra 50 parking spaces) - $6,000/space
-$3.4 million Cannon Hill P'n'R upgrade (providing an extra 80 spaces) - $42,500/space
-$15 million Carseldine P'n'R upgrade (providing an extra 170 spaces) - $88,235/space
-$17 million Coomera P'n'R upgrade (providing an extra 500 spaces) - $34,000/space
-$8.8 million Darra P'n'R upgrade (providing an extra 184 spaces) - $47,826/space
-$3.025 million Ebbw Vale P'n'R upgrade (providing an extra 70 spaces) - $43,214/space
-$4.5 million Eight Mile Plains P'n'R upgrade (providing an extra 340 spaces) - $13,235/space
-$21 million Greenbank P'n'R upgrade (providing an extra 600 spaces) - $35,000/space
-$4.285 million Ormeau P'n'R upgrade (providing an extra 125 spaces) - $34,280/space
-$14.5 million Salisbury P'n'R upgrade (providing an extra 140 spaces) - $103,571/space (this is a staged project though Stage 1 including 140 spaces but the total cost as $14.5million - unsure of what the future stages involve)
-$44.5 million Springfield Central P'n'R upgrade (providing an extra 1,100 spaces) - $40,455/space
-$5.2 million Varsity Lakes P'n'Ride upgrade (providing an extra 350 spaces) - $14,857/space
... as well as countless other road and highway "upgrades" say otherwise.

In everyone of those instances, there are only 3 that I would consider have any sort of adequate public transport feeding the station - Altandi, 8MP and Varsity Lakes (and even most of the routes feeding Varsity Lakes would be a stretch to call them "feeder buses"). For Altandi, it's more of a coincidence that a key bus corridor runs past it. And with 8MP, it too is only a coincidence that it lies on the gateway to Logan, with any CBD or Garden City bound buses passing through. For every other example, there is no effort to provide any sort of decent feeder bus of public transport to areas that aren't within walking distance of it. Springfield Central had few welcomed bus improvements, but is still plagued with extremely inadequate operating hours, 30 min peak frequencies and hourly services at night and on weekends.

Coomera, Carseldine, Darra, Ebbw Vale, Ormeau, Springfield Central are all key candidates that would be so successful if a bit of money was put into improving the bus services to/from the stations here.

You simply cannot encourage the use of private cars and expect this infrastructure to accommodate this influx. It's called induced demand. Look at LA or Dallas or any other car dominated city and see their 16 lane, car choked highways then turn to Europe with their clean, green, efficient public transport networks. As I speak, the Centenary Mwy has been closed 2 times in the past 3 days due to an incident, the M1 southbound with an accident around Pimpama last night had traffic banked all the way back to Slacks Creek and Meadowbrook (with the roads running parallel to the freeway just as slow), the Gateway northbound was a stand still from Pine Rivers to Nudgee already at 2pm yesterday, I could go on and on and on. It just shows how volatile and unsustainable a freeway network is.

I know you have your head switched on Mark, it just seems like politics gets in the way of proper solutions to providing people with alternatives to driving. We need to see a change in the way we view public transport. It's not a political football, it's a solution to provide a better quality of life for everyone. It's time to jump on board before we miss the bus.

Trying to solve traffic congestion by building bigger roads is like trying to cure obesity by loosening your belt...

[timh]

Well said Cazza!

Regarding EMP: it already has one of the largest Park n' rides in all of SEQ, it's revolting. And always full. Running a decent feeder bus service(s), servicing Gardner Road, Rochedale Road and Underwood road would take a LOT of pressure of the station but until Brisbane Metro comes round I think we'll be unlikely to see anytging along these lines. I have written to Cr Huangs office on more than one occasion about this but there seems to be little movement on this front outside of the Metro project.

The other thing that will severely help relieve EMP is the Rochedale Busway station and Park n' ride. Once that opens I feel like it will relieve the pressure somewhat.

OH and on another point. I was at EMP recently, near the apartment buildings across the road and I could have SWORN I saw a sandwich board on the footpath saying something about a SHUTTLE BUS. A SHUTTLE BUS FROM THE CARPARK TO THE STATION!!??? I Didn't get a good enough look at it (I might go revisit to confirm) but hooooooly sh%t if they're wasting money and resources running a shuttle bus from the park n' ride to the station we really have gone fully off the rails.

Sent from my SM-G780F using Tapatalk

[Cazza]

Greens say duplication of Walter Taylor Bridge a waste of taxpayer money: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-07-29/duplication-of-walter-taylor-bridge-waste-of-money-say-greens/100329368

But hey, in other news, the sky is blue...

Duplicating the Walter Taylor Bridge in Brisbane's western suburbs would be a "waste of taxpayers' money", Greens MP Michael Berkman says, but Brisbane City Council says it is too early to judge.

The study has not yet been completed.

The 85-year-old two-lane Walter Taylor Bridge links Chelmer and Indooroopilly across the Brisbane River, and is chronically congested.

Documents obtained by Mr Berkman's office under Right to Information include a scoping document for the pre-feasibility study, which draws upon previous reports assessing the bridge.

It also includes strategic modelling on traffic increases and hypothetical road upgrades in the surrounding road network up to 2041.

A potential corridor for a second bridge has already been set aside through the former Witton Barracks site, near the Jack Pesch pedestrian and cycling bridge.

The modelling concludes that the existing Walter Taylor bridge "plays a critical role in connecting local trips across the river" but "plays no significant role in regional travel".

"Based on the volumes forecast, duplication is required by 2041, likely sooner based on the volumes forecast," the modelling document said.

But Mr Berkman said the planned pre-feasibility study would only "tell us what we already know: building more roads does not fix congestion".

Mr Berkman said money should instead be put to increasing public transport connections through the south-west suburbs and reopening the Tennyson train line. ...

Surely Cr McLachlan is taking the p!ss here, right?

[OzGamer]

It's completely pointless saying the plan is to use the old Witton Barracks site when there is nowhere to go from there! Are cars supposed to cross the river and just stop?

As someone who uses all of the bridges there (road, rail, pedestrian/bike), the main problem for cars is the congestion on the northern end. How is that supposed to get better by just putting more bridge lanes in? More bike infrastructure and frequent local buses feeding train stations from places like eastern Graceville and southern Oxley would make more sense.

[verbatim9]

https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=14342.msg249674.msg#249674


^^Road freight electrification

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/brisbanetimes/status/1430289061327958029

[Cazza]

[verbatim9]

https://twitter.com/9NewsQueensland/status/1452200603149553668

[ozbob]

TRANSMAX Annual Report

https://documents.parliament.qld.gov.au/tableoffice/tabledpapers/2021/5721T1857.pdf

... Transmax is an unlisted Australian
company wholly owned by the
Queensland Government Department
of Transport and Main Roads. The
company is registered under the
Corporations Act 2001. Transmax's 100%
shareholder is the Queensland DirectorGeneral for Transport and Main Roads.
As a government-controlled entity,
Transmax supports other transport
departments around Australia to achieve
safer and more reliable road journeys for
people in the communities they serve.  ...

Page 7

[verbatim9]

Brisbanetimes --> Green light for new Queensland highway to give the Bruce a break $

10-kilometre highway will be used to underpin a major urban development and give motorists an alternative to the heavily congested roads north of Brisbane.

Confirmation of the highway route will boost the Caboolture West development, north of Morayfield, but leave some property owners worried their homes will be destroyed or devalued.

Three possible routes for the western alternative to the Bruce Highway have been under consideration by federal and state governments since November 2019. They covered an area from Caboolture River Road north to the D'Aguilar Highway, towards the town of Wamuran, through cattle, dairy and fruit-growing rural land.

Brisbane Times has learned the central option – running along a power easement about 10 kilometres east of Old North Road – will on Friday be named the preferred route.

Further work will be undertaken to determine how the highway will link with other major thoroughfares to Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and beyond. ...

[verbatim9]

^^First the Coomera connector, now the second Bruce to counteract vehicle congestion.

[ozbob]

^^First the Coomera connector, now the second Bruce to counteract vehicle congestion.

It is not a second Bruce, just an alternative road in the north of Brisbane.

More congestion inducing roads in a transport poor slum ..

[Jonno]

Meanwhile at #COP26 the rest of the world just signed a declaration that says we need to covert our transport from road to rail and active transport ?? This is a last century project  just like building more coal fired power plants!!! https://unfccc-cop26.streamworld.de/webcast/uic-uitp-get-on-board-the-shift-to-rail-and-public

[verbatim9]

The path of a second highway alongside the Bruce, near Caboolture, is now locked in. It's to ease gridlock and pave the way for future housing developments, but farmers aren't happy, saying their properties are being sacrificed. https://t.co/VjurNisTT8 @AlexLewisJourno #7NEWS https://t.co/FOhjjqghUa

[ozbob]

This is not a second highway alongside the Bruce Highway.

It is a local rat-run ... another transport deprived slum on the way hey ... 

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Maps sent to residents confirm route for alternative to Bruce Highway $

Maps have been emailed to residents north of Brisbane whose property will be affected by the route of the alternative highway west of the Bruce.

The highway will run between Joyner and Petrie, then north-west through Caboolture West and link through Beerburrum and Steve Irwin Way.
...

... There is no discussion about a new rail spur, with most discussion about the proposed highway route and public transport to the existing Morayfield, Caboolture, Elimbah and Beerburrum stations on the main Brisbane-to-Gympie rail line. ..

[ozbob]

North Brisbane Bruce Highway Western Alternative, planning

> https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/projects/north-brisbane-bruce-highway-western-alternative-planning

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

Governments and DTMR Completely Out of Touch with North Brisbane Bruce Highway Western Alternative

17th November 2021

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport passengers condemns the latest "congestion-busting" road proposal from the Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (DTMR)(1).

In the same week the SEQ Council of Mayors launched it's "Let's Get Moving" campaign, DTMR launched planning for the first stage of the North Brisbane Bruce Highway Western Alternative (BHWA).  A project that will ensure "Lets Get Moving" becomes "We're stuck in even worse traffic".  Time and time again RAIL Back On Track, along with other active/public transport and rail advocates, highlight that building more roads just encourages the existing population to drive more with little economic benefit.  Our current congestion, like cities around the world, has outgrown population growth 4 to 5 fold.  These project don't fix congestion they create even more (2).

The North Brisbane Bruce Highway Western Alternative (BHWA) along with a raft of other road projects in SEQ have no place a 21 Century transport system and shows that DTMR is out of touch with modern transport planning which prioritises active/public's transport and freight rail ahead of road transport particularly passenger vehicles (3).

The importance of this reprioritisation was evident on the world stage with COP26 adding a critical sentence the Glasgow Declaration on Accelerating the Transition to 100% Zero Emission Cars and Vans. "We recognise that alongside the shift to zero emission vehicles, a sustainable future for road transport will require wider system transformation, including support for active travel, public and shared transport (4).


RAIL Back On Track calls on the Minister for Transport, the SEQ Council of Mayors and DTMR to halt work on SEQ road widening/bypass/alternative projects and refocus their efforts and investment on planning and supporting safe and accessible active/public transport and freight rail across SEQ including a A Fast Rail vision for SEQ (5).

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

References:

1. North Brisbane Bruce Highway Western Alternative, planning
https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/projects/north-brisbane-bruce-highway-western-alternative-planning
2. The Congestion Con: How Bad Land Use and Transportation Decisions Go Hand-in-Hand
https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2020/3/6/the-congestion-con-how-bad-land-use-and-transportation-decisions-go-hand-in-hand
3. Don't "Balance" Modes — Prioritize Walking, Biking, and Transit
https://denver.streetsblog.org/2017/02/09/brent-toderian-dont-balance-modes-prioritize-walking-biking-and-transit/
4. Active Travel, Transit Added To Official COP26 Declaration After Last-Minute Appeal By EU Official https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2021/11/10/electric-cars-wont-save-the-planet-say-transport-experts-at-cop26/?sh=71bd82179782
5. A Fast Rail vision for SEQ
https://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=14462.0

[ozbob]

Facebook ...

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/railbotforum/status/1460671115479564289

[Fares_Fair]

I spoke to Ch7 #SunshineCoast today about this ill-conceived plan to take us towards more congestion.
Airs tonight.

[ozbob]

I spoke to Ch7 #SunshineCoast today about this ill-conceived plan to take us towards more congestion.
Airs tonight.

Thanks FF!   

[Stillwater]

The first stage of the Caboolture West development that this proposed new road will serve is supposed to be the size of Mackay (pop.130,000). And that is just stage 1. The Bruce Highway south of Morayfield will be a car park in peak periods. Old time locals refer to some planning a while back for another connector from about halfway along the Caboolture-Bribie Island Road south to Deception Bay/Redcliffe.

[Cazza]

Key points to take away:
-the Netherlands is ranked number 1 country to drive in by Wayz. Even though places like the US are so car centric, they really terrible places to drive (let alone hostile for any other road user).
-Making cycling journeys faster and more direct in many cases means that it is usually easier to go by bike. Although this may seem bad for drivers, it actually improves their journeys as less people are travelling by bike (or other forms of transport) and therefore having less cars on the road. If this wasn't the case, the direct route would be slower than the indirect route, just because of how many more people would go by car.
-Smart traffic lights in themselves do so much to improve traffic flow. By having each movement on its own light, it allows for significantly increased operational flexibility and safety.
-Those that drive in the Netherlands only do because they want to or they need to. Many don't because they simply don't have to. This is the complete opposite back here where something as simple as going to the local shops for bread or milk almost always requires a car.

I found that the video almost always came back to this point: "there's no solution to traffic congestion, except viable alternatives to driving. Most Dutch cities have viable alternatives to driving for many trips, which reduces the number of cars on the road."
"It may seem counter intuitive, but prioritising active and public transport actually works out better for drivers!"

[achiruel]

We can go on about prioritising public/active transport all we want, but these problems effectively go back to decades of incredibly poor urban planning. Why the f**k are we building what are effectively dormitory suburbs of Brisbane 50km away frome the CBD, and away from existing transport spines? Absolute insanity!

Instead of stupid sh*t like this, the State ought to be mandating increased population density within ~800m walk (NOT radius) of railway and busway stations. Instead, when looking at housing around many railway stations in Brisbane, they are surrounded by streets and streets of single dwellings. Local & state governments need to grow a pair and stop pandering to NIMBYs.

[Jonno]

We can go on about prioritising public/active transport all we want, but these problems effectively go back to decades of incredibly poor urban planning. Why the f**k are we building what are effectively dormitory suburbs of Brisbane 50km away frome the CBD, and away from existing transport spines? Absolute insanity!

Instead of stupid sh*t like this, the State ought to be mandating increased population density within ~800m walk (NOT radius) of railway and busway stations. Instead, when looking at housing around many railway stations in Brisbane, they are surrounded by streets and streets of single dwellings. Local & state governments need to grow a pair and stop pandering to NIMBYs.

Need both.  One cannot exist without the other!!  NIMBY only exists because our elected representatives continue to tell the public that restricting development and increasing car parking with fix the issues when they actually create them.

If we educated people on what good development looks like (and a lot of higher density developments have a lot left to desired) then we would not get the reactions we do!  People used to support cigarettes but public education changed our mindsets.

[Cazza]

I agree transport and land use planning go hand in hand. But when you've got medium to high density areas within a stones throw of the CBD without any decent service like kangaroo point, east Brisbane, west end (I.e those living within the 800m-1km odd cityglider stop gaps), I think we need to continue to raise this issue serious PT issue. The last inbound bus along Shafston St on a weekday is a 232 at 7:02pm and the last outbound at just 7:36pm! We are talking about one of Brisbane's most densly populated areas, with 10-15 storey apartments being the prevailing development of the area but can't see a bus after 7:30pm on a weekday. No wonder our inner city is a choked car fest.

There seem to be too many infill developments going in that are of a ridiculous scale (cramming as many people into the one 15 storey building as possible) or some boutique, luxury development holding just 4 wealthy couples- there really isn't all that much in middle in terms of good quality, mixed use development. Council's backwards planning scheme policies (like parking minimums, site cover and poor zoning) really don't help.

It's been found that the low rise, high density city model (most notably seen in Paris) is the most sustainable city model. I agree the state needs to do more by stopping these PDAs from being in the middle of nowhere and turning into car centric sewers, but this planning won't change overnight. I'm certain that we will see a positive change in the way our urban planning is undertaken over the next decade, but until then, we simply have to work with what we've got. It's hard to change the status quo, but change starts with advocacy and education.

[Cazza]

There are a hell of a lot of new road projects that are listed on TMRs consultation page: https://www.yoursay-projects.tmr.qld.gov.au/consultations

Apparently the Kawana Motorway and Western Bruce Highway are now more important than CAMCOS and Sunshine Coast fast rail will ever be.

I would strongly encourage anyone interested to make a TMR account and give some scathing feedback on these delusional and decades on ideas. It's just nothing sort of frustrating and embarrassing that a soon to be Olympic region still feels the need to build roads in an attempt to "solve" traffic congestion.

These "congestion busting" motorways are nothing more than "congestion inducing" and will completely degrade the quality of life for all. We need to be replacing trips made by car, not encouraging them.

[Arnz]

A lot of feedback on the Kawana Way/Kawana Motorway project page in favour of (yet again) 'delayed' and recently demoted CAMCOS Rail to Birtinya and Maroochydore.

https://www.yoursay-projects.tmr.qld.gov.au/kawana-motorway

[Cazza]

@TMR...

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/Jeffrey_Addison/status/1462983200209190913

^

[ozbob]

https://twitter.com/CoxyJindas/status/1463250608492744708

[ozbob]

ABC News --> Brisbane's western suburb residents to have their say on Walter Taylor Bridge duplication

Brisbane's western suburb residents are being asked how they navigate a chronic commuter pinch-point at the Walter Taylor Bridge, between Chelmer and Indooroopilly, as the council considers duplicating the heritage bridge.

Key points:

The survey is part of a pre-feasibility study on duplicating the Walter Taylor Bridge

Support for duplication is mixed, with opponents saying adding more lanes won't reduce congestion

One councillor says the survey fails to ask the fundamental question of whether residents want another bridge ...

[ozbob]

BCC Chelmer to Indooroopilly river crossing pre-feasibility study

> https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-and-transport/roads-infrastructure-and-bikeways/road-and-intersection-projects/chelmer-to-indooroopilly-river-crossing-pre-feasibility-study

Brisbane City Council is undertaking a pre-feasibility study of the Chelmer to Indooroopilly river crossing in the vicinity of Walter Taylor Bridge to define the current traffic and transport situation and determine whether there is merit in adding more capacity for travel across the river. 

The study is being undertaken as a result of Council's ongoing network review and investigation process.

The pre-feasibility study will include a combination of technical and community inputs to assist Council determine the challenges and opportunities that exist when travelling across the river now and into the future. It will also help to identify the potential scope of further investigations that may be required, if any. ...