Residents of three suburbs to get 30 free trips across bridge during Metro work

Residents of three inner-city suburbs will be given a toll rebate for the Go Between Bridge equivalent to about 30 trips when construction begins on Brisbane Metro in South Brisbane next year.

Brisbane City Council was forced to allocate the $100 rebate for South Brisbane, West End and Highgate Hill residents as a condition of Brisbane Metro approvals granted by the state government.

Residents of three suburbs will be granted a toll credit for the Go-Between Bridge (foreground) during the Metro's construction.Credit: GLENN HUNT

The $1.2 billion Metro project will permanently close Victoria Bridge to private traffic and convert it into a green bridge for buses, pedestrians and cyclists.

Only cars and motorcycles used for private travel by approved residents of the 4101 postcode with a Linkt toll account will be eligible for the rebate during construction of the Metro in South Brisbane, expected to begin early next year.

Car tolls are currently $3.29 and motorcycle tolls $1.65 for the Go Between Bridge, and residents will be restricted to a maximum rebate of $400 over the life of the scheme.

"We know there are going to be a number of road closures required to facilitate this project, and there will be a fair bit of disruption, I imagine, with residents living in South Brisbane, Highgate Hill and West End," deputy mayor Krista Adams told the council chamber on Tuesday.

Brisbane Metro route map.Credit: Brisbane City Council

"It is proposed ... that private households in the 4101 postcode be provided with a toll credit for use of the Go Between Bridge to assist in mitigating the disruption."

Opposition Labor councillor Jared Cassidy welcomed the Labor state government's toll rebate as part of its Metro conditions but said it wasn't enough.

"While the state government didn’t specify the exact details of the toll relief, what is proposed by this LNP administration is a payment of $100 credit a year to toll accounts for residents of the 4101 postcode," Cr Cassidy said.

"Thirty trips a year for cars and 60 for motorbikes, you can hardly call that the scrapping of the tolls."

Independent Tennyson Ward councillor Nicole Johnston also questioned why the toll relief was limited to those suburbs while not including other nearby suburbs, such as Dutton Park.

The 21-kilometre Metro turn-up-and-go public transport system will run from Eight Mile Plains to Roma Street, and the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital to the University of Queensland.