Expected traffic delays on Hale Street bridge project ‘unacceptable’

Main Roads Minister Warren Pitt said today he needed to read only one line in the Brisbane City Council’s traffic management plan for the Hale Street Bridge construction project to know that it was unacceptable.

This was the line referring to traffic on Coronation Drive that said “very significant delays….increase of 40 to 50 mins on existing inbound travel times (Toowong to City)”.

“Immediately, I knew this was not good enough – that delays of this kind were being contemplated. I can walk from Toowong to the city faster than that.

“The next line was just as alarming: ‘Increased usage of Milton Road – increase of 40 to 50 mins on existing travel times (Toowong to City/City to Toowong)’.

“This isn’t an overall travel time of 40 to 50 minutes, but an extra 40 to 50 minutes on top of what the trip is now taking.”

Mr Pitt, who again emphasised the State Government’s support for the bridge project, said he was shocked by the estimates of traffic delays contained in the traffic management plan submitted by the council.

“Some of the other indicators of the congestion to be caused by the project were traffic banking 6.2km back down the Riverside Expressway and the Pacific Motorway, and 6.3km along the Inner City Bypass.

“What has shocked me more is the Lord Mayor’s willingness to visit this kind of traffic mayhem on Brisbane motorists, and his unwillingness to date to consider relatively simple measures to reduce the adverse traffic impacts of the project.

“Councillor Newman has said the traffic management plan that the council has put forward is the best they can come up with, and there is no room for further improvement.

“I don’t accept that. Councillor Newman’s traffic plan simply isn’t good enough. The people of Brisbane – the motorists, the commuters, the public transport users – deserve far better than what the council has put forward.

“As it stands, the traffic management plan is seriously substandard.

“Last week I outlined a number of measures that the council could put in place to significantly upgrade its traffic management proposals.

“I am meeting with the Lord Mayor tomorrow to discuss this whole issue, and I'm also writing to him setting out the matters that the Main Roads Department has been attempting to get the council to consider.

“We are not putting up an alternative traffic management plan. That’s not the government’s role or job. This is the council’s traffic management plan, and it’s up to them to develop the detail of a satisfactory plan.

“As well as re-stating certain overall requirements, we have put forward a number of ideas and suggestions for them to consider.

“Two crucial requirements are to maintain the existing number of lanes, and for roadworks that disrupt traffic flow to be done during off-peak periods and after hours.

“The constraints of the site make this a more difficult project than most in terms of mitigating its traffic impacts – but that’s all the more reason to have an effective traffic management plan.

“The council has known for 18 months that this project was going to require a comprehensive traffic management plan – one that effectively mitigated the adverse impacts that roadworks and construction would cause.

“Unfortunately, they have failed over many months to properly engage with this fundamental aspect of the Hale Street bridge project.

“Sure, it is going to cost more to properly manage traffic during construction. It may cost millions of dollars more, and it may take longer.

“That is the price to pay for undertaking a project of this magnitude in this location – what is a traffic congestion point and hot spot in a road network that already is under tremendous pressure and stress.”

Media contact: Minister Pitt’s Office 3227 8819