Like a giant jigsaw puzzle, another piece of Brisbane’s northern busway came online this week
November 15, 2011
Piece by piece, Brisbane’s northern busway project is taking shape and being put to use during its construction, heralded by this week’s opening of a 600 metre flyover.
Although a relatively short stretch of completed infrastructure, the new northern busway bridge cuts up to four minutes off bus travel which would otherwise use a busy stretch of Bowen Bridge Road controlled by four traffic signals.
The flyover cuts a loop from the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital at Herston to Federation Street Windsor where the next stretch of busway is already under construction to Kedron,
Queensland Transport Minister Annastacia Palaszczuk says the flyover would improve bus services into the hospital, QUT and Brisbane’s CBD.
“The flyover is part of the Northern Busway’s Windsor to Kedron extension which will benefit thousands of residents in Brisbane’s inner northern suburbs,” she says.
“Buses on a dozen northern routes that currently use the congested Bowen Bridge and Lutwyche roads will enter the busway at Federation Street, cutting out four sets of traffic lights.”
Palaszczuk says the northern busway (Windsor to Kedron) was the latest expansion to Brisbane’s 25-kilometre busway network after the recent extension of the Eastern Busway to Stones Corner and Langlands Park.
“Busways are a popular public transport option for many people with about 70 million passenger trips taken each year and growing,” says Palaszczuk.
Several Brisbane bus routes commenced using the Bowen Bridge flyover from November 14.
Palaszczuk says the next section of the northern busway between Windsor and Kedron was due to open in mid-2012, with planning for the extension to Bracken Ridge also under way.
“The northern busway will ultimately connect Brisbane city to Bracken Ridge and will result in a faster and more efficient service to and from the city for thousands of commuters.”