Brisbane City Council reveals final locations of two West End green bridges

The locations of Brisbane’s two newest green bridges have been selected by Brisbane City Council, linking the inner-city suburb of West End to Toowong and St Lucia respectively.

The two bridges will provide pedestrian, scooter, and cyclist access across the Brisbane River to some of Brisbane’s densest inner-city suburbs and the University of Queensland’s St Lucia campus.

The former ABC Toowong site at 600 Coronation Drive will be the landing site for a Toowong-West End green bridge, with the bridge landing in Orleigh Park near Forbes Street in West End.

The St Lucia Bridge will stretch from Guyatt Park to Orleigh Park, downstream of the West End and Guyatt Park ferry terminals.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said more than 4,000 responses were received during the council’s four-month consultation period.

“With 83 per cent of survey respondents supporting 600 Coronation Drive and 64 per cent backing Guyatt Park, it’s crystal clear that Brisbane residents want green bridges and know exactly where they want them,” Cr Schrinner said.

“We will now start preparing the concept designs and preliminary business cases for the two West End bridges so we are ready to seek funding support from other levels of government.”

Bridges underway

The two bridges are part of a $550 million pledge made by Cr Schrinner when he was appointed lord mayor in 2019 to construct five new green bridges across the city to improve the city’s mobility.

Two other bridges, the $190 million Kangaroo Point bridge and the $67 million Breakfast Creek bridge, are further ahead in planning, with construction contracts expected to be awarded for both in the coming months.

The location of the fifth green bridge remains uncertain after a planned Bellbowrie to Wacol bridge was scrapped in the face of community disinterest.

A concept image for the St Lucia-West End green bridge.(Supplied: Brisbane City Council)

Council analysis estimates the Toowong-West End green bridge could cater for 3,400 trips daily by 2031 and 4,600 trips daily by 2041.

The St Lucia-West End bridge is anticipated to carry 4,000 trips daily by 2031 and 4,600 trips daily by 2041.

The council’s Public and Active Transport Committee chair Ryan Murphy said feedback from residents showed “greater enthusiasm and readiness” for the Toowong-West End bridge and that would be taken on board “when determining the next steps”.

“Residents have told us that this bridge is the priority and we should focus on building it before we proceed with construction of the St Lucia-West End link,” he said.

Cr Murphy said the detailed business cases for both bridges would be completed this year and the council would then discuss the proposals with the state and federal governments and their funding needs and construction time frames.

Private and public land used

Greens councillor Jonathan Sri, in whose ward both bridges will land, conducted online polling to determine residents’ views on the bridge locations.

The final sites for both were strongly endorsed by the majority of respondents.

600 Coronation Drive was recently purchased by developers Consolidated Property Group for $43.5 million.

The group made it clear they would welcome the bridge being placed on the site as part of broader development plans.

The two bridge landing locations means fewer land resumptions than other options would have required, but they do require the consumption of some public parkland for the landing pads.

 

Article Source: www.abc.net.au

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