November 21, 2021eastbug

21 Nov 2021

North Brisbane Bikeway

It was good to hear Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner speaking on ABC Brisbane Radio on Tuesday morning about the value of creating a well-connected cycling network. He was asked about the North Brisbane Bikeway after one of the hosts received a flier in their mailbox in support of the bikeway and encouraging people to provide their feedback via Council’s online survey. (We may have had something to do with that…) The Lord Mayor responded that the consultation is happening now and that the input from nearby residents and those who would like to be able to access the city by bike from the northern suburbs (and vice versa) will all be taken into account.

You can listen to the radio interview at this link, with the Lord Mayor speaking from 2:16:00, and Brisbane North BUG member Paul adding his support for the connection from 2:22:00.

This project won’t proceed without a strong show of support, and we can’t afford to lose another decade without a safe cycling connection.

Over the last week, we’ve distributed thousands of flyers asking people to support Council’s plans to complete the missing link in the North Brisbane Bikeway. We’ve been directing people to Council’s online survey (now closed), and suggesting they write to Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner in support of the direct route from Wooloowin to Toombul. We put over 4,000 flyers in letter boxes within around 800m of Toombul Shopping Town; these people will benefit directly from a safe cycleway towards the RBWH and CBD. (As will thousands of others along the route – but we could only get so far in a few days).

One thing that has been glaring to us over the last few days is the difference in housing density along many of the streets we letterboxed versus Sydney St and Jackson St which are on the proposed cycle route. Opposition to this route is led by a small number of people in detached housing who seem determined to dictate who gets to use the street in front of their house as if they own it. Thousands of people living in Toombul/Nundah and Clayfield are within comfortable cycling distance of Brisbane’s major employment and education precincts, and would love to have a safe route to cycle there, but (some) residents of a couple of leafy streets in Clayfield want to deny them.

Who are “the cyclists”?

Curiously in the discussions during consultation for North Brisbane Bikeway Stage 5 – Price Street to Kedron Brook Bikeway, a lot has been made of “the cycling lobby”. Who are “the cyclists”? Check out Chris’s video to gain some insight into the identity of this mysterious group…

On the weekend we snapped a picture of this lovely electric trike at the markets in the Brisbane Botanical Gardens. We love adult tricycles because they’re a reminder that all sorts of people benefit from better bikeways. People chose 3 wheels instead of 2 for many reasons; whether it’s a condition that affects their balance, not having learned on 2 wheels as a child, or just appreciating the stability of parking their trike without worrying about a stand or leaning against something while they shop or pay attention to their kids or fur-babies.

Next time someone tries to tell you “cyclists” are all sporty-looking people in lycra on expensive carbon bicycles, remind them that a ‘cyclist’ is anyone who cycles. And for some people that’s easier than walking.

Green Bridges – Plans revealed

We’re excited to see plans progressing for green bridges connecting Toowong to West End and West End to St Lucia. Safe and attractive walking and cycling connections will enable more people to make short trips by active transport, and to enjoy recreation activities along the beautiful Brisbane River. Let’s get moving Brisbane!

There are consultation sessions coming up this week, so make sure you get along, have a look at the designs up close and share any feedback you have with Council officers.

If you’ve tried to use the CityLink Cycleway on Edward St recently, you will have found a bit of a mess while construction work is happening to shift the bikeway across the road between Margaret St and Alice St. A new signalised crossing at Alice St will connect pedestrians and cyclists to the Botanical Gardens while the previous roundabout area is used for the Kangaroo Point green bridge construction zone.

This latest work was predicted to take 2 months, so hopefully it will be complete by Christmas, and the Edward St cycleway will operate much more seamlessly between the Gardens and Elizabeth St.

Lytton Road

East BUG have written to Brisbane City Council many times over the last 5 years highlighting the dangers of Lytton Road through Bulimba, Balmoral and Morningside. Back in February, we presented a petition with more than 600 signatures calling for upgrades to make this road safer for all users, and also petitioned Council to upgrade cycling facilities when resurfacing roads. When we noticed Lytton Road being resurfaced recently, we contacted Council again requesting that they at least change the line markings to place a cycleway against the kerb, buffered from fast moving motor vehicle traffic by space for parked cars where room currently existed – eg. between Perrin Creek Bridge and Taylor St.

A month later, Council’s CEO wrote back saying:

“While I note your comments about the current road resurfacing works and appreciate you raising this with me, I must advise that as works are underway, East BUG’s suggestions are unable to be incorporated at this time…
…In order to ensure alignment of Active Transport Infrastructure Fund upgrade programs and road resurfacing schedules, I have asked TPO officers to continue reviewing opportunities for co-delivery of projects and for investigations to be undertaken in advance of road resurfacing works.”

Brisbane City Council CEO

Our question: how many years notice does Council need for those ‘advance’ investigations? Apparently 8 months is insufficient. 5 years is insufficient. Even after 125 years Council seem surprised by the demand for cycling on Lytton Road.

Veloway

One of our keen-eyed supporters spotted this: the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) Metropolitan Region is inviting Tenderers for Construction of the O’Keefe Street Cycle Bridge.

You might recall that during the consultation earlier this year, the BUGs and Bicycle Queensland highlighted that although this is fantastic news for people cycling to the CBD, it was a poor decision to remove the Veloway entrance from the northern side of O’Keefe St. That entrance provides a vital connection to the PA Hospital Bikeway and onwards to the Eleanor Schonell Bridge (via the proposed rail overpass to Peter Doherty St).

We haven’t seen update plans for the cycle bridge, but hope the issues with the previous design have been addressed. The Veloway is a great asset, but it needs more access points, not less.

Further south, Minister Mark Bailey MP, and Joe Kelly MP delivered that good news that the detailed design process is underway for the Birdwood Road overpass at Holland Park West. With each new improvement to the Veloway, we’re seeing more and more people deciding to give active transport a go, and finding that it’s quicker and more reliable than driving – not to mention cheaper, faster, and better for the planet. Bring it on!

Enoggera Creek Sport and Recreation Precinct

Brisbane City Council is proposing changes to the ‘Enoggera Creek Sport and Recreation Precinct’ in Brisbane’s inner-north which includes parts of Windsor, Wilson, Herston and Newmarket.

The precinct includes the Enoggera Creek Bikeway which is a popular commuter route for people accessing the CBD and RWBH from the West and North-Western Suburbs.

The current plans will hopefully see a widening of the existing shared path, however this may not be sufficient enough due to higher volumes of people using the area for the sport and recreation precinct as well as commuting. Therefore a separated path may be more appropriate here to increase safety.

There have been some changes to the draft plan relevant to our input in April:

  • Separate cycle and pedestrian traffic on Enoggera Creek Bikeway
    Still not included
  • Don’t increase area of park paved over for car parking
    This was also the strong feedback from many local residents. The draft plan significantly reduces the area proposed to be paved over for parking
  • Provide convenient bike parking at all facilities, under cover/shade and suitable for locking a variety of bikes; cargo bikes, kids bikes, trailers, etc.
    This still isn’t really addressed in the plans
  • Improve cycle connection from Baradine St to remove zig-zag around fields
    The route hasn’t been improved, but additional road, carparking and coach layover has been remove in the revised plan, so at least this connection shouldn’t become worse. (A low bar!)
  • We support new walking/cycling bridge across creek from Gould Rd
    This has been removed from the revised plans (see more below)
  • Connect the eastern end of the Enoggera Creek Bikeway to Bowen Bridge Road path
    The path behind the Northey Street City Farm is still in the plan, and there is mention of “widened shared path/enhanced precinct connections” but what does that mean for paths that don’t exist in practice?
  • Provide separated cycle facility on Noble St (rather than just painted markings) – major connection through to Kedron Brook Rd
    Noble St shows a green line in the map: proposed on road cycle. This road already has BAZ (bicycle awareness zone) markings, but no genuine cycling facilities. It’s not clear what the latest plan really includes.
  • Include separated cycleway on Finsbury St linking to future NW cycleway, following rail corridor
    More “proposed on road cycle”. What does that actually mean??

On Sunday, Belinda went along to a “Talk to the Planner” session. The consultation was held at the Ashgrove Library – a long way from the park, which didn’t feel like the best way to engage the local community.

We learned that the proposal to “widen paths” means that the Enoggera Creek bikeway will be (eventually) renovated to 4m wide. However we’re still keen to see separation of pedestrian traffic and faster vehicles like bikes and scooters, as this area is very important for people commuting through the park as well enjoying the space for recreation.

The revised plans include a new bridge across Enoggera Creek at the end of Clyde Rd, which seems like a good addition. That would potentially enable another commuter cycling route from the north-west towards Victoria Park and the RBWH along Butterfield St.

On the other hand, a proposed new bridge from the end of Gould Rd has been dropped from the original plan due to lack of community support. What we think is badly needed instead are improvements to the routes using the bridges on either side:

  • improving the path on the southern side of the Granville St bridge so cyclists can get a run-up at the Fagan Rd hill – preferably separated from cars.
  • improving the connection from Rasey Park to Butterfield St, which is narrow and has a blind corner
  • improving the connection from Noble St to the Enoggera Creek Bikeway

There are more consultation session coming up this Saturday, 27 Nov (registration required):

  • 9.30am – 12pm, Ashgrove Library, 87 Amarina Avenue, Ashgrove
  • 4.30pm – 7pm, Grange Library 79 Evelyn Street, Grange

Hamilton Northshore Masterplan

Also on the weekend, Mitch (from Airport BUG) and Belinda (East BUG) went along to an information session on the latest amendments to the development scheme for the Priority Development Area at Northshore Hamilton. (Because what else would you rather do on a sunny Saturday?)

We were obviously most interested in the active transport plan. Previously, development at the western end of the PDA has included some great separated cycling infrastructure. But some other roads in the precinct have an on-road cycle lane in the door zone of parked cars; it’s hard to imagine cycling there with children, and the footpaths aren’t wide enough to function as shared paths.

We were pleased to see the plans include some separated cycleways, but questioned why the future route along the river is marked a “recreational cycleway” (can we drop the word ‘recreational’?). We also pointed out the need for a good east-west cycling connection through the area along Curtin Ave, connecting to Nudgee Rd at one end and to Holt St at the other. Those are vital connections to the Airport precinct (a major employment area), and to the Gateway Bikeway and the southern suburbs.

More information on the plans is available on the EDQ website, and submissions are open until Friday 3 December 2021.

Development at Buranda

There was a good turn-out in Hanlon Park last Sunday to a community forum organised by South Brisbane MP, Amy MacMahon to discuss the proposed development on the block bordered by Logan Road, O’Keefe St, Gillingham St, and the Cleveland Rail line at Buranda Station.

As we’ve previously documented, this development fails any reasonable expectations for a Transit Oriented Development, and will likely exacerbate the danger at the surrounding intersections.

The community wants an attractive, walkable, and bike-friendly neighbourhood. It’s time to stop trying to serve up different flavours of car-centric development and hoping they won’t notice.

An example from Geelong

Finally, check out this nice example of simple but effective protected cycling infrastructure in Geelong, Vic. Well done City of Greater Geelong!

We need more of this sort of approach in Brisbane; cycling infrastructure that is engineering-light (not expensive, slow and disruptive to construct).