Alternative to Western Road Building Agenda

Video of presentation to community meeting



See the CAST alternative plan for west Brisbane and Ipswich here

Check out the Communities Against the Tunnels Website here

Government Ignoring Alternatives to the Kenmore Bypass

Main Roads have refused to consider a public transport option to address traffic congestion on Moggill Road and are proceeding with further studies for the Kenmore Bypass Road.

Their community information brochure (November 2008) states that there was considerable community opposition to the bypass, with people calling for increased public transport to be considered as an alternative option.

However Main Roads could not take this into account because they were “outside the scope of the Kenmore Bypass Planning Study”.

Thus their latest “Planning Options” study is dedicated to road solutions and will not consider whether a solution combining public transport, walking and cycling will better address the problem.

The same approach has been taken with the Hale Street Bridge, North South Bypass Tunnel and Airport Link studies.

The terms of reference for all these projects are designed so that the pre-determined solution will always be chosen, while the community are offered the illusion of choice such as the route of the road or where traffic lights will be located.

Main Roads are not interested in taking a rational planning approach and are simply doing what they know – building roads.

The State Government Transport Departments need to be combined so that solutions for transport solutions are considered across all modes of transport.

The State Government needs to realise that continuing to prioritise road building, while slowly improving public transport is not a “balanced approach”.

They are continuing the decades of funding and policy inequity that has favoured cars and road transport.

If the State Government got serious about public transport then all these new roads and road expansions in western Brisbane would not be necessary because there would be a significant shift from car to public transport, walking and cycling.

Building more roads leads to more traffic congestion and the Kenmore Bypass is a great example of this.

The bypass will pour more traffic onto the Centenary Highway, triggering the need for it to be upgraded, and more traffic on the Centenary Highway means more traffic heading into Toowong, meaning the government then has the justification for building the Northern Link tunnel.

The alternative is simple – spend the money from all these projects on upgrading cycling facilities, bus services and train services. This means more people leave their cars at home and there is no need to build destructive road upgrades.

Contact Warren Pitt, Minister for Main Roads to let him know what you think about the Kenmore Bypass mulgrave@parliament.qld.gov.au

CAST contact for this article Tristan Peach 0416-478-615

Bridge to Brisbane Fun Run

Media release 5 September 2008

For many of the participants in this Sunday's Bridge to Brisbane fun run, it will be a case of driving their cars to the start of the race at Murarrie, or not running at all.

Translink has provided a shuttle bus leaving from Fortitude Valley at 5.00 am, and an extra train service leaving Central at 4.46 am for Murarrie station. These are the only special services that will cater for fun run participants.

However, public transport customers who live in the suburbs will have no way of joining these services, as there are just no connecting services to Central or the Valley at that time on Sunday mornings.

All other normal Sunday services operate at times which would not permit race participants to reach the start of the race in sufficient time to register and prepare for the run. [6.00am]

Isn't it about time that Translink implemented a policy of providing adequate sustainable transport services for the people of Brisbane, especially at times of special events involving many thousands of participants, who are then forced to drive their vehicles to join the events?

Contact David White 0403-871-082

Solutions for West Brisbane

What is the road building agenda for west Brisbane, and what are the alternatives to it. This video summarises a presentation by CAST spokesperson, Tristan Peach, outlining the flaws of the current transport planning approach in West Brisbane and an alternative plan to serve the needs of the region for decades to come. Watch it here