State Government forges ahead with Transitway for buses and businesses are in the firing line

The State Government has revealed its proposed Northern Transitway for buses and taxis and it includes wiping out on-street parking and that has business owners up in arms.

Irate business owners claim the State Government has paid them nothing but lip service over the proposed Northern Transitway which they say will “destroy us”.

The Northern Transitway (NT) is, in effect, a priority bus lane, that can be used by taxis, bicycles and limousines and replace the parking shoulder along each side of Gympie Rd, from Sadlier St, Kedron to Hamilton Rd, Chermside.

An artist's impression of the Northern Transitway which will remove on-street parking along parking shoulder of Gympie Rd, from Sadlier St, Kedron to Hamilton Rd Chermside.

Preliminary plans for the $53 million project were distributed to residents and businesses last week and that came after a rough outline of the NT was released last November.

It has pitted the Brisbane City Council against the State Government over the proposed removal of all on-street parking and two bus stops along the 2.3km route.

A number of business owners say they are prepared to relocate after the Palaszczuk Government failed to address their concerns regarding parking and loading zones.

ConsignA-Car owner Yvette Cottrill says the Northern Transitway will "destroy us" if it goes ahead removes all on-street parking along Gympie Rd. pic Darren Cartwright

Yvette Cottrill, who owns Consign-A-Car at Kedron, said she will have to move when her long term lease expires in 2021.

She said the section between Kitchener Rd and Rode Rd, where her business had been located for eight years, experienced heavy traffic on Saturdays but not during the week.

She expects the end of on-street parking will all but kill off passing trade for her business and that of more than half a dozen car yards along the 2.3km strip.

“It’s bottled up near Hamilton Rd Chermside. If this goes ahead this will destroy us,” Ms Cottrill said.

“The traffic through here is just not enough to warrant a dedicated bus lane, 24 hours a day.

“If the traffic is so bad, why do we have speed cameras consistently here?”

EmbroidMe owner Daryl Ragen said he wants compensation to relocate because without loading zones it will cripple his business. Pic: Darren Cartwright

Further down the road at Chermside EmbroidMe owner Daryl Ragen said his lease had expired and he was looking at relocating, possibly to Kedron, after seeing the latest plans.

He said his calls last December for a loading zone outside of peak hour had fallen on deaf ears while questions relating to the length of the construction had gone unanswered.

“The biggest issue is where the courier are drivers going to park and how long I will be without access while it’s being built,” Mr Ragen said.

“Why can’t there be parking after 9am? Without parking courier drivers are going to have to walk a block and half or more and I doubt they are going to want to do that.

“It’s going to cost me between $10,000 and $15,000 to move and they won’t offer compensation. The whole thing just doesn’t make sense.”

Sasquatch Bar owner Gourav Dhiman said they share 15 car spaces another business and the removal of on-street parking will place stress on their parking lot. Darren Cartwright

A few doors up from Mr Ragen, Sasquatch Bar owner Gourav Dhiman said he may have another battle of a different kind on his hands.

Mr Dhiman said he expected the impact to be minimal although his concern was that their small car park would be placed under pressure once on-street parking ceased,

“We may have people parking here going elsewhere because the car parks have gone and we don’t want to, but we may have to monitor the car park,” he said.

The BCC has pushed back against the Transitway and against the removal of bus stops on a network they are responsible for running.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner called the project a stop gap measure that used existing roads instead of delivering on a promise made more than a quarter of a century ago.

“The State Government has only built 27 kilometres of the 75 kilometre busway proposed in 1992 and building of the final 48 kilometres of the Northern and Eastern Busways needs to be the State Government’s focus,” Mr Schrinner said.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner says State Government has yet to fulfil a 1992 promise to build 75km of busways. Pic Annette Dew

Local councillor for the area Fiona Hammond said businesses would suffer if car parking was removed and urged locals to attend information sessions.

Besides the parking issue, the removal of a two bus stops, on either side of the Gympie Rd, at the Castle St and Strathmore St intersections will create some logistic problems for commuters, said Rail Back On Track spokesman Robert Dow.

There will be about 900m between stops on the eastern side of Gympie Rd while pedestrians who alight on the western side will have to wait for three sets of traffic light changes to cross the arterial road at Strathmore St.

“It’s far from ideal,” Mr Dow said.

The bus stop on the corner of Gympie Rd and Castle St which will be removed as will all on-street parking. The nearest stop is more than 400m away. Pic: Darren Cartwright

A Department of Transport and Main Roads spokesman said community consultation had started and with information sessions at Chermside Bowls Club (September 19 and 28) and Kedron State School (October 10 and 12).

“These sessions enable people to find out more about the project, ask questions and provide their feedback on the proposed design,” the spokesman said.

“The Northern Transitway will support high frequency and reliable bus services along Gympie Arterial Road, encourage more people to use public transport and assist in managing congestion by separating buses from general traffic.”