Now that the first event has wrapped up on “Queens Wharf Plaza” (i.e. the corridor that has been the Bicentennial Bikeway since 1988), it’s time to reflect on what went down, and where we might go from here.
Catch up on the background in our earlier posts: Part 1 – the circus rolls in and Part 2 – bumps in the road
Part 3 – the issue blows up
The Bicentennial Bikeway opened in 1988 and has been a critical piece of active transport infrastructure ever since. It has been the only way to safely access many inner-city destinations without having to share busy roads with motor vehicle traffic. It is also a much loved recreational path for thousands of local residents, tourists, and business travellers who enjoy walking (including their 4-legged friends), jogging, and bike riding.
In a mis-guided attempt to “activate” the river-front—by people who seem to think “active” means spending money at bars and restaurants rather then actually moving—the Bicentennial Bikeway at Queens Wharf has now been turned over to Star Entertainment (yes, that company judged unfit to hold a Casino licence in NSW). In December 2024, they used that space to host a light-show, food stalls and pop-up bars. Meanwhile bike riders were required to dismount and walk from 4pm until 11pm. Together with people walking and jogging, they were required to squeeze though narrow barriers manned by security staff (bouncers) and then deal with dazzling and disorienting moving light displays.
This was not just a once-off event in the lead-up to Christmas! The plan is for regular “activations” at Queens Wharf Plaza that will similarly disrupt the bikeway.
We’re calling on Star to return the stolen Bicentennial Bikeway to the users. If there’s space that needs “activating” we point to the huge cavern above, where Queens Wharf have built their casino and resort over William St and created a vast area for just a very few cars. Activate that instead!
Meanwhile, we needed a way spread the word and provide other path users with a way to let Star and the Queensland Government know how frustrated they were with the arrangement. So, on the second afternoon of the Sono Lumo event, we organised a peaceful and non-disruptive protest—handing out balloons for people to take for a walk though the site with a message to those responsible.
Thanks to everyone who gave us a wave, stopped for a chat, or took a balloon for a walk (or very slow ride) along the Bicentennial BIKEway! Long may we roll.
Attention from our protest then prompted Bicycle Queensland to more forcefully and publicly take up the case of the Bicentennial Bikeway. Thanks to them, Star Casino agreed to not enforce the dismount until it was necessary for safety reasons—which we hoped would be after the peak evening commute times.
We strongly agree with this statement from Bicycle Queensland which you can find on their website:
“At the heart of the issue is the poor design choices made in this area when part of this transport corridor was surrendered to become part of this precinct. The State could have kept the bikeway separate to the multi-use area, but have compromised both the integrity of the corridor and the safety of all users by choosing not to. When an event like Sono Lumo comes along, this failure becomes all too evident.”
… “It is clear that Queens Wharf Plaza must have an uninterrupted path for bike riders that can be ridden safely and conveniently 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. It is part of the Bicentennial Bikeway, the most popular bike route into Brisbane’s CBD.”
Our protest action also started to attract media attention. In the Brisbane Times, reporter Felicity Caldwell discussed how poor design choices have compromised Brisbane’s most important active transport corridors along the river—including through Queens Wharf and Howard Smith Wharves. These have long been public places for everyone to use and enjoy long before they were given over to private corporations for riverfront bars. (It’s good to have at least one media outlet in Brisbane taking a sensible view of active transport in our city!)
But while raising awareness and achieving a small concession to dismount requirements was nice, we still needed to send a message that holding regular events that disrupt Brisbane’s busiest bikeway is unacceptable. It was time to play our next card….
Space for Cycling Brisbane 