Media release 31 July 2007

Big red light for Northern Link Tunnel

A sustainable transport group is appalled that Brisbane City Councillors have voted in unanimous support of proceeding with the Northern Link tunnel, and have urged the Federal government to fund urban public transport projects instead.

“This is another move in the wrong direction for Brisbane,” said Community Action for Sustainable Transport (CAST) spokesperson Tristan Peach.

“New car bridges and tunnels increase congestion, pollution, road accidents and social inequity. They have not worked in Sydney, and the impact statements for other TransApex projects predict huge increases in congestion on Stafford Road, Newmarket Road, Gympie Road, Vulture Street, Cordelia Street, Merivale Street and the East-West Arterial as a result of the Airport Link, North South Bypass Tunnel and Hale Street Bridge,” he said.

“Brisbane has all the major roads it needs, what we desperately need is a public transport system that carries 30% (rather than the current 10%) of the population,” he said.

“Despite the rhetoric Council and the State are planning for only 11% of trips to be via public transport in 2026, and as a result congestion and pollution will increase,” he said.

“Council need to roll out a network of transit lanes across the city to make public transport a faster option than the car, they also need to switch their funding priority from cars to public transport, walking and cycling,” said Mr Peach.

Continuous Transit Lanes could be installed within months on most major roads – Coronation Drive, Lutwyche/Gympie Road, Old Cleveland Road, Kelvin Grove Road, Ipswich Road, with buses getting priority at traffic lights – increasing the carrying capacity of these roads and making public transport a more comparable alternative to the car.

“Council also needs to make cycling a better option by installing more cycle paths and bike lanes so people can use their bikes for shorter trips – this is a very cost effective way to reduce congestion,” said Mr Peach.

CAST has urged the Federal government to snub Council’s tunnel vision and to invest their money into real solutions for Brisbane.

“Federal money should also be invested in the heavy rail network, duplicating tracks, track extensions and buying more rolling stock,” Mr Peach.

“We need trains and buses running every 15 minutes, and for new developments to be served by rail at the outset. We also need to take road freight off the roads and put it onto rail,” said Mr Peach.

The State and Council need to work together to focus more new development around railway stations, and to discourage sprawling residential developments in outer areas.

The group believes the decision shows that Council’s approach to climate change is totally hypocritical, with their words saying they are planning to reduce Greenhouse emissions, while their actions do the opposite.

The Australian Greenhouse Office has stated that vehicle kilometres travelled (VKT) in motor vehicles is the primary factor leading to increased greenhouse emissions from the transport sector, and the impact statement for the Airport Link shows that Council and the State are planning for a massive increase in VKT up to the year 2026. The Northern Link will make this even worse,” said Mr Peach.

Councillor Quirk’s suggestion that the best way to improve travel times for public transport users is to spend 1.5 billion on a car tunnel is highly cynical as it comes just months after Council removed the T3 lane from Coronation Drive, leading to longer travel times for public transport users in Brisbane’s West.

“If Councillor Quirk was serious about improving the transport system then instead of pushing for tunnel projects he would be installing transit lanes,” said Mr Peach.