Breakfast Creek Green Bridge opens, question mark hangs over two others

The first of Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner’s promised green bridges officially opened on Saturday morning, but funding doubts remain over two other bridges he took to the last council election.

The Breakfast Creek Green Bridge, a stone’s throw from the famous pub that bears that name, officially opened on Saturday morning, a little over a month out from the Brisbane City Council election.

The Breakfast Creek Green Bridge, also known as Yowoggera, officially opened on Saturday.Credit: Brisbane City Council

With dual names, the bridge will also be known as Yowoggera, which means corroboree, or corroboree place, in the local First Nations language.

“Our green bridge program is all about building a better-connected Brisbane, making it easier for residents and visitors to get around,” Schrinner said.

Schrinner said the bridge cost $60 million – $7 million under budget.

But that program has been far from smooth for his administration.

Going into the 2020 council election, Schrinner promised five green bridges – for exclusive use by pedestrians and cyclists – between Kangaroo Point and the CBD (now taking shape on the Brisbane River), Toowong and West End, St Lucia and West End, and Bellbowrie and Wacol, along with the Breakfast Creek bridge.

The announcement was Schrinner’s first act as lord mayor, coming minutes after he was voted in by his council peers following predecessor Graham Quirk’s retirement in 2019.

The Bellbowrie-Wacol bridge was scrapped less than three months after the election, while the Toowong-West End and St Lucia-West End projects were indefinitely delayed as part of Schrinner’s belt-tightening last year.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner.Credit: Matt Dennien

Brisbane residents will go to the polls again next month, on March 16, to deliver their verdict on the City Hall administration.

Seeking to be part of a City Hall majority, council Labor opposition leader Jared Cassidy made the unprovable claim that, per metre, the new bridge was the most expensive in the world.

“It is a tiny bridge over a creek, and it has cost $80 million,” he said, adding $20 million to the announced project cost.

“This is the most incredible waste of money. There was already a path that crossed Breakfast Creek – what we’re talking about here is a simple bikeway extension,” Cassidy said.

“But because Adrian Schrinner got caught short and lied about delivering five new bridges, and he’s now only delivering 2½ [sic] new bridges over the river, he’s had to try and say this bridge is more than it is.

“He’s overengineered it, overcooked it, and the budget’s blown out on it.”

Marking the opening of Yowoggera on Saturday, Schrinner said the new bridge was an “exciting milestone” for active transport in Brisbane.

“The addition of the Breakfast Creek/Yowoggera Green Bridge is an important step to making Brisbane even more walkable and active,” he said.

Hamilton Ward councillor Julia Dixon, who will face her first election next month after the LNP appointed her to the role following the retirement of former councillor David McLachlan last year, talked up the new bridge’s benefits to her constituents.

“This bridge is really important for residents because it will make it much safer for walkers, bikers, and scooter riders to cross over Breakfast Creek into Newstead Park, and then on to the CBD,” she said.

“Brisbane is the fastest-growing capital city in the country and this bridge is part of our commitment to make it easier for residents and visitors to get around.”

The council expected the new bridge to be popular – Schrinner said more than 2300 people a day used the nearby Lores Bonney Riverwalk, which had been extended as part of the project.

Next to open, Schrinner said, would be the Kangaroo Point bridge, which was jointly funded with the federal government.

“Kangaroo Point Green Bridge will be more than just a bridge. It’s incredible design in the heart of the city means it will become one of Brisbane’s iconic must-do destinations,” he said.

“It will not only serve as an incredibly convenient connection, but will feature an above-water restaurant and bar, as well as a cafe near the city landing.”

In what he was now calling a 10-year green bridge building program, Schrinner said the council was still seeking funding for the remaining two bridges.

“With our green bridges recognised by Infrastructure Australia as priority projects, we’re confident that the state and federal governments will, in future, help fund these bridges,” he said.

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