Council launches new road closed signs designed to automatically turn light up during flooding

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has launched new road closure signs that react to flooding, but many of them may not be ready in time for the predicted return of La Nina.

BRISBANE City Council has launched 15 new road closure signs with LED lights designed to automatically turn on during flood events but not all are expected to be erected before the predicted return of La Nina.

The solar-powered signs are fitted with a closed circuit television (CCTV) monitoring system that measures river heights and roadside flood levels, alerting council workers when water rises to an unsafe level.

The council employees would then be able to turn the road closure signs on from the safety of a command centre instead of navigating dangerous weather conditions to put up physical roadblocks, minimising road closure delays.

The first three signs were unveiled on Thursday on Gap Creek Rd in Kenmore Hills, Bowman Parade in Bardon and Lucy St in Moorooka, with a further 12 signs to be added to the collection by December.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and Council chair of infrastructure Andrew Wines in front of one of the 15 new road closure signs with LED lights ahead of the expected back-to-back floods. Picture: Taylah Fellows

Major weather forecasters, including the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), say there is a 70 per cent chance La Niña could arrive as early as this month before gradually decreasing to 55 per cent from December onwards.

La Nina is the weather pattern that resulted in Queensland being hit by Cyclone Yasi in 2011 – one of the strongest cyclones to ever hit Australia – bringing peak wind gusts estimated at 285 kilometres per hour.

Meteorologists say the La Nina weather pattern had hit Queensland each year since September 2020 and, if predictions were accurate, it would be the first “triple-dip” La Nina this century.

Brisbane City Council’s Infrastructure Committee Chairman, Andrew Wines, maintains there would be enough time to get the other 12 signs up and running before the next predicted round of flooding.

“I’ve asked the question of the officers and I’ve been reassured many times that they will hit that mark,” he said.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting and 80 per cent chance Queensland would receive higher than average rainfall in September. Picture: BOM

Mr Wines also assured Queenslanders the solar powered light-emitting diode (LED) lights would last through prolonged rain events when there is minimal sunshine to charge them.

“They are solar powered, and there’s a battery within the device that will last through whatever weather events,” he said.

The new signs could potentially be enforceable by law, with Mr Wines saying council is in talks with the Queensland Police Service about whether the video cameras would be used to further encourage motorists to obey road closures.

“That will be an arrangement we'll have to come to with the Queensland Police in the future,” he said.

“At this point, we are improving our signage and then whether we use the video for enforcement will be a determination we make.”

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and Council chair of infrastructure, Andrew Wines, launch 15 new LED road closure signs ahead of the expected back-to-back floods. Picture: Taylah Fellows

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said council was doing “everything it could” to prepare for the back to back flood event, but admitted not everything would be ready before summer.

Both he and Mr Wines said the state government had acted too slowly after the February flood event, hindering council’s ability to prepare for the upcoming wet season.

“We’re working flat out to make sure we can see as much as possible to be prepared,” Mr Schrinner said.

“Now, the reality is we won’t be able to get everything done before summer. But we’re working to get as much as possible.”

Mr Wines said preparations were underway.

“We're spending in advance as well, on the signs, on sand bags ready, so not only are we preparing for the financial occurrence that if something were to happen, we’re actually spending in preparation,” he said.

“Had the state have behaved in a hasty fashion we’d be much more advanced than we are.”