Concerned Brisbane’s new busway won’t go much further, a plan to track north is up for review
July 4, 2012
The alignment of future stages of Brisbane’s northern busway will follow the arterial Gympie Road rather than wipe out hundreds of homes around suburbs Kedron and Chermside.
Queensland Transport Minister Scott Emerson says previous government’s plan to resume homes by diverting the busway alignment away from the area’s major arterial road was not affordable and disrupted too many lives.
“This is a project that is simply not deliverable because it is not affordable,” Emerson says.
Rather than resume houses, Emerson will push a path that uses the Gympie Road corridor, sparing homes near Rode Road and Hamilton Road at Chermside which would otherwise be resumed.
The previous route which took the next stage of the Northern busway off Gympie Road at Rode Road to the Prince Charles Hospital precinct before returning to Gympie Road past the Hamilton Road intersection, will be scrapped.
“The timeline for the busway extension will also be reviewed due to the state of Queensland’s finances,” Emerson says.
Emerson has asked the transport department to provide short-to-medium term options to improve bus travel along the section of Gympie Road between Kedron and Chermside – including bus priority.
Local MP Chris Davis campaigned to have the project reviewed due to the massive disruptions to the local community.
“It’s important we look at some real cost-effective and deliverable options to support the growing communities across the northern suburbs of Brisbane,” Davis says.
“The corridor proposed by the previous government has left a lot of people in limbo and caused a lot of concern among the local community.
“More than anywhere, the people of northern Brisbane understand the disruptions that new infrastructure can cause, but they also want governments to minimise those disruptions with sensible decisions.
“Using Gympie Road as the area’s major transport corridor is a sensible decision.”