July 18, 2021eastbug

18 July 2021

Victoria Park

Did you know that Victoria Park is now open for public access? This opens up some great opportunities for more direct connections between the routes and destinations at the edges of the park – including the North Brisbane Bikeway, Aberleigh Rd (the link to the northern suburbs and Enoggera Creek Bikeway), the Land Bridge, and QUT’s Kelvin Grove Campus. The old paths for golf carts provide handy ready-made cycle paths! Be warned: it’s quite hilly though!

Path upgrades

Belinda caught up with Minister Mark Bailey MP on the SE Freeway Shared Path at Tarragindi on Friday morning. The Department of Transport and Main Roads are about to start work widening and upgrading the next section of this path.

We were concerned that this would require removal of a row of mature trees. It turns out that these are actually classed as a weed species (for reduction), and create major problems dropping their nuts/seeds over the bikeway, the adjacent freeway, and all over the neighbour’s garden roof, and gutters. The trees will be replaced with more suitable species, in consultation with the local Arnwood Place Bushcare Group.

The section of the SE Freeway Path that was upgraded last year has proven incredibly popular with people cycling, walking, and jogging. We’re looking forward to the next section, which is due for completion in late November 2021. The detour will be via Sunshine Ave.

We’re happy to report a few Council path upgrades too. In Ashgrove last year the shared path along Enoggera Creek past St Johns Wood Scouts was rebuilt to 3m wide. Approximately 900m of the old 2m wide path was reconstructed between the Ashgrove Bowls Club and Waterworks Road. The southern end of the path is a bit messy at the moment during construction works for the new Gresham St bridge, but access remains open if you head towards the Scout Hall.
More information on the Gresham Street bridge replacement is available on Council’s web site.

On the other side of town, East BUG are happy to see that Council are finally replacing the badly cracked sections of the Bulimba Creek Bikeway at Minnippi. This path has had wide cracks for years which various patch-attempts have failed to address. Thanks to Minnippi Parkrun for posting these images on Facebook; we hope your event on Saturday ran smoothly.

Bridges

The old wooden bridge linking the Downfall Creek Bikeway to Shelgate St, Chermside West was replaced last year. This is a great program by Brisbane City Council to replace some of the aging pedestrian bridges around the suburbs. But it does seem to have a very strong bias to suburbs on the northern side of the Brisbane River. Hopefully it will be continued in other parts of Brisbane in coming years.

Another bridge replacement off the Downfall Creek Bikeway is currently underway at Brickyard Rd, Geebung. The detour is via the next bridge, approximately 500m upstream.

Late last year, the bridge across Cabbage Tree Creek, between Karri Place and Bangalow Street, Bridgeman Downs reopened. A new 3m wide steel bridge with a concrete deck replaced the previous wooden bridge from 1998.
In the budget, this was listed as “Tallowwood Place” (even though it is about 800m north) under “Bridges and Culverts Reconstruction and Rehabilitation” for a total of $1.4million in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 budgets.

We’re not sure what was wrong with the old bridge, but hopefully the latest version will last a little longer. We’d love to know the criteria for selecting locations for new and replacement bridges…

Another shared path crossing over Cabbage Tree Creek at Bridgeman Downs is currently under construction about 500m north of the “Tallowwood Place” Bridge. This will be a floodway crossing that will link Idonia Street to the new section of Cabbage Tree Creek Bikeway between Coolabah Cres and Albany Creek Road.

The Idonia Street connection has been listed under “Bridge and Culvert Construction – New” in three successive budgets, for a total of approximately $1.7million. The project is due to be completed in late 2021. (See more).

Morningside Ward councillor, Cr Kara Cook and Morningside residents petitioned Council for a crossing like this over Perrin Creek at Algoori St. That would have helped provide a safer route to school for students at Balmoral State High School and Cannon Hill Anglican College. That crossing has been in the priority infrastructure plan for almost a decade, but Council refuses to take action. We’re happy for the future residents of Bridgeman Downs who will get to enjoy this new crossing and the Cabbage Tree Creek Bikeway, but it’s very frustrating that the eastern suburbs continue to be neglected.

Just around the corner from where Belinda and Mark Bailey MP met to discuss the SE Freeway path upgrade this week, there is a little wooden bridge on the increasingly popular route to Shaftesbury Street Park and beyond to Tarragindi Reserve, Toohey Forrest, and Salisbury. The bridge is only 1.5m wide, and approached by a sharp corner on a downwards slope, so there’s a serious risk of slipping on the wooden planks when it’s wet. We’ve asked Minister Bailey to have a word with Brisbane City Council about replacing this bridge with something safer and more suitable for the level of traffic.

Stones Corner Underpass

We’re excited to see work happening under the Logan Road bridge at Stones Corner. As part of the Hanlon Park rejuvenation, an underpass here will finally connect the Norman Creek Bikeway, and avoid the dangerous crossing of Cleveland St and the pedestrian lights that drivers too often don’t notice while focussing on other traffic approaching the roundabout.

The new path under the bridge is being jointly funded by Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Government.
It has taken a long campaign by Stones Corner Road Safety, East BUG, Brisbane CBD BUG, The Better Buranda Project, and others to get this far. Some of the children who started school at Buranda State School and Narbethong State Special School at the beginning will have graduated by the time the underpass is open, but it will be a huge help for the next cohort.

Manly Road upgrade

From East BUG: an update on the latest progress on stage 2 of the Manly Road upgrade. This involves moving the bus stop, completing the 2.5m shared path through to the intersection with New Cleveland Road, and creating a 1.8m wide on-road bike lane with space “created” by reducing the width of the centre median.

It looks good. We hope the remaining sections of Manly Road will be addressed soon too!

Bollards and build-outs

Early this week, Belinda watched as the rear wheels of a truck flattened the whole row of remaining flex-posts on Wynnum Road, Morningside. They’re tough, but were looking quite battered. Watching what happens to the flex-posts doesn’t really inspire you to ride in this skinny little painted lane…

Then by Friday, they were skittled. Four more of the orange plastic bollards at the intersection of Wynnum Rd and Jack Flynn Memorial Drive, Morningside had been wiped out; the last 3 on the outbound side, and one of 3 heading toward the cemetery. On the outbound side of Wynnum Rd there’s now just one solitary bollard hanging on immediately before the intersection. The only real surprise here is that they lasted as long as they did.

Nearby, on Bennetts Road, Norman Park, opposite Morehead Ave, build-out islands have been installed to shorten the pedestrian crossing distance. This pushes the bike lane to the right, just at the spot where drivers are still racing to get ahead at the end of the merging zone. Council insists this arrangement will improve safety for cyclists.

This is part of a “congestion busting” project. We don’t think this is the type of infrastructure that will encourage people to cycle to work or for local trips instead of taking the car!

Other News

Our sympathies are with our southern neighbours who are currently in lockdown. But we’ve also been watching in envy as the City of Sydney has been working hard throughout the pandemic to fill in the missing links to create a connected network of protected cycleways. This is building back better!

Images from Lord mayor Clover Moore, and Google Streetvies of Miller Street, Pyrmont. This path completes the safe, separated cycleway link between the ANZAC Bridge and the Pyrmont Bridge.

In London, a year ago Sarah was too scared to ride a bike. Here she shares some good tips for anyone who might like to start cycling in the city but feels intimidated.