New bridge in Brisbane’s west slips off council election agenda

The leading Brisbane lord mayoral candidates have outlined the road and transport corridors they believe need attention from the next city council administration.

And while some projects might still need state government backing,none of the parties seem keen to revisit a long-running project that was knocked back for state funding last year.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner on Monday announced projects his LNP council would progress if elected on Saturday. They include:

The LNP would also continue work on existing projects,and maintain its commitment of $40 million towards each jointly funded,open level crossing removal.

Labor’s Tracey Price had previously announced the party would,within 100 days of being elected,set up a Suburban Congestion Taskforce to prioritise key road and cycling projects.

While the taskforce would identify priorities for council,Price had already vowed to improve intersections at Chermside and Tarragindi.

She said priority projects would be funded from the existing council budget. Labor was due to release audited costings this week,and had yet to detail the projects it would scrap to implement its promises.

Having previously vowed to get state Labor government support for projects if required,Price said rail crossings at Lindum and Banyo were her immediate concern.

“We are going to work through these and just get them done,” Price said,criticising the LNP for a lack of progress.

The Greens had nominated theirhigh-priority transport corridors and continued to push for alternatives to cars,for example promising to divert$160 million from road-widening projects to dedicated bus lanes and separated bikeways.

The Greens’ lord mayoral candidate,Jonathan Sriranganathan,argued public transport and active transport were more efficient and practical for many people,with environmental benefits.

In the CBD,more streets would be off-limits to vehicles under the Greens,and the speed limit for motorists in other areas would be reduced to 30km/h.

Both Labor and the Greens vowed to cut the cost of public transport fares to give people an alternative to driving.

None of the major parties were promising new river crossings – the Greens would examinerunning light rail across the Story Bridge – and an Indooroopilly bridge project pushed by the LNP in council has stalled.

Brisbane City Council released bridge options in mid-2023,showing it could cost between $800 million and $1.3 billion to build a second bridge from Chelmer to Indooroopilly.

But while the council had bought land on either side of the river for a bridge,the state government last year rejected a request for funding. Then-transport minister Mark Bailey said the council couldpay for the bridge itself.

Schrinner said there had been no change since.

“It has been submitted to the state government,and we are looking for a partnership,going forward,to deliver an option to improve that,” he said.

Sriranganathan suggested the issue was a lack of public transport,rather than too many vehicles for existing road and bridge infrastructure.

“The state needs to upgrade the frequency of train services that are running through there,” he said.

“That’s the way to move people along that corridor. If people are moving over the bridge in that direction,we have got to have them moving in that direction.

“And if they do duplicate the bridge,where do all the cars go when they get to Indooroopilly?”

Price said the LNP should rule out another bridge if it did not intend to build it.

“They have been in power for 20 years. Walter Taylor Bridge has been an increasing problem for a very long time and subject to a number of discussions for a very long time,” she said.

“Just get on with it,or rule it out.”

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