Brisbane green bridge scrapped as council seeks another location

One of lord mayor Adrian Schrinner's five flagship green bridges will be scrapped after local residents indicated they did not want or need it.

The Bellbowrie-Wacol green bridge was one of five bridges Cr Schrinner committed to in last year's council budget, but Brisbane City Council will now look for another location for the bridge.

Brisbane City Council had planned to build a green bridge between Bellbowrie and Wacol.Credit: Google Maps

Four other pedestrian and cycling bridges at Kangaroo Point to the CBD, Breakfast Creek, West End to Toowong and West End to St Lucia have all been more warmly welcomed by residents.

But after two rounds of community consultation, it became clear that Bellbowrie and Wacol residents did not want a pedestrian and cycling-only bridge and would prefer it to be at least open to buses.

The council initially surveyed residents last year, but after the first round of consultation showed little interest and two new LNP councillors took over the Pullenvale and Jamboree wards, another round of consultation was launched last month.

More than 60 per cent of respondents to the first Bellbowrie-Wacol bridge survey said they would never or rarely use a green bridge.

The proposed green bridge between the Brisbane CBD and Kangaroo Point. Credit: Brisbane City Council

About 46 per cent saw little benefit in a new river crossing that did not allow cars to cross, pointing out that the large elderly population in Bellbowrie would not use a pedestrian or cycling bridge.

Bellbowrie residents indicated they would rather a connecting bridge to Riverhills and other eastern suburbs that included cars as well.

LNP councillor Sarah Hutton (Jamboree) said her community was primarily concerned that the bridge would "disrupt the quieter suburbs" with higher traffic flow.

Both rounds of consultation convinced the council that the bridge needed to find a new location.

"Our commitment to invest $550 million in green bridges stands, and it is really important because not only will it reduce traffic congestion, it creates jobs," Cr Schrinner said.

"So we're getting on with the first two bridges. We are continuing work as well on the two West End bridges ... and now we're going to look for other opportunities for a fifth green bridge."

The $190 million Kangaroo Point bridge, and the Breakfast Creek bridge, will be fast-tracked to boost post-coronavirus jobs, with $23.2 million to be invested in the two bridges in the coming financial year.

A further $66 million in capital will be allocated in 2021-2022 on the green bridges program.

The Kangaroo Point bridge is expected to cater to 5400 trips daily, taking 83,690 car trips off the road each year.

A thorny problem with the state government planning a superyacht berthing trial at the Kangaroo Point cliffs close to the bridge site has also been resolved, Cr Schrinner said, with the government agreeing to trial it elsewhere.