One of Brisbane’s biggest assets is the Brisbane River. It is also one of the region’s major challenges. For mine – and it would appear to many others too – there isn’t enough river crossings in Brisbane.
I touched on this issue as few months back when I questioned the lack of public open space in inner Brisbane and this lack’s likely detrimental effect on future inner-city high-density residential development.
To revisit go here: Missing: Green Infrastructure
That post received many replies, with several subscribers telling me about a recent RACQ study into the local population’s perception about building more bridges in Brisbane.
Go here to see the full RACQ results: Bridging Brisbane
A quick summary
- 4,600 people were surveyed by the RACQ in mid 2017
- Most drove cars to work; reside in Brisbane’s western, eastern or inner-city suburbs; were aged between 35 and 64 years and were RACQ members.
- Overall 12 Bridges (including the three associated with the Wilson Triple Jump) and two tunnels were considered. Why these 12 river crossings were selected is outlined in the missive extra section at the end of this post and they are shown in the map below.
- Overall there was very strong support (88%) to build more bridges. See the table below.
- The majority want to these bridges to support a range of transport modes including private vehicles.
- Tolls, in some cases, were also considered a reasonable trade-off between the increased convenience and a way to help offset cost.
Brisbane bridge preferences
Ranked by level of support
| Bridge or tunnel | Yes* | No | |
| 7 | West End to St Lucia | 94% | 6% |
| 3 | Centenary Motorway Upgrade | 93% | 7% |
| 10 | Wilson Triple Jump | 92% | 8% |
| 8 | West End to Toowong | 90% | 10% |
| 1 | Moggill Road | 90% | 10% |
| 2 | Bellbowrie to River Hills | 90% | 10% |
| 11 | Bulimba to Teneriffe | 90% | 10% |
| 4 | Walter Taylor Bridge | 89% | 11% |
| 12 | Hamilton to Balmoral | 89% | 11% |
| 6 | East West Link (Tunnel) | 84% | 16% |
| 5 | South West Tunnel | 80% | 20% |
| 9 | Victoria Bridge | 69% | 31% |
| Overall average | 88% | 12% | |
| *Includes both percentage FOR and percentage NEUTRAL | |||
End note
More river crossings would make life much easier for many Brisbane residents and also visitors to the city. They could also help improve the region’s property values.
They would be much cheaper to supply than the big-ticket items like Cross River Rail and I reckon they would have far greater impact than the big-ticket items too.
There seems to be strong local public support for such infrastructure, yet whenever I have asked about building more bridges in Brisbane – which I have done in several public forums in recent years, including a gathering of five Brisbane Mayors – I have been shut down with the usual political stone walling.
Brisbane is often categorised as a “Lifestyle City” in typologies of world cities. If that rings true – and I think that is a far better handle than the “New World City” pretence that is currently being flogged – then we best do something that really adds to resident’s lifestyle, which includes improving how most of us move around the joint.
If I was in charge, I commit funds to build all 12-river crossing as outlined above – over the next 25 years. That’s one crossing every two years, starting from 2019. Several of the current and proposed white elephants would have to go. This would include Cross River Rail and the pitch of the 2032 Olympics. Such is life.
We need things that work not pipe dreams.