Future Brisbane: Tell us your ideas for 2032 Games mobility

From the second M1 to Sunshine Coast rail, the 2032 Games will unleash a cascade of transport infrastructure in the southeast. TELL US YOUR PRIORITIES

When Brisbane’s audacious bid to host the 2032 Olympics and Paralympics was hatched seven years ago, the catalyst was a long list of necessary transport infrastructure that otherwise might not happen.

Now that the Games have been locked in, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change our new world city for the better, for all time.

And those with the best perspective on what change is needed are the people who live there.

So in its latest Future Brisbane series, The Courier-Mail is asking for your input on future mobility plans.

COMPLETE OUR SURVEY HERE, VOTE FOR THE PRIORITIES BELOW AND LEAVE A COMMENT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE STORY

Mobility can mean a lot of things.

For us, our planning for this Future series has identified a cascade approach to the definition – starting with the region-wide links that sparked the bid such as the need for a second M1 to the Gold Coast and passenger rail into the heart of the Sunshine Coast, then zooming in to consider the suburban links that can be delivered such as better public transport to the airport and Brisbane City Council’s plan (that we reveal today) to extend its Metro to Capalaba, and finally into the central business district itself to dream of a green inner-city precinct where pedestrians take priority.

On that point, the Olympic and Paralympic Park for the Brisbane Games will not be on a redeveloped brownfield site such as Sydney’s Homebush.

It will be in the very heart of our city – and so ideas such as the extension of the iconic South Bank Arbour to the Gabba and Suncorp Stadium, and then through the City to Riverside must be considered.

While you cannot put on an Olympics and Paralympics without venues, you could host one without building the pedestrian links, the roads, the rail and the accessibility improvements that should actually form a central part of this once in a forever opportunity for our capital city and its surrounding region.

And with all governments post-pandemic now struggling under a mountain of debt, finding the cash to deliver on those necessary parts of our Games legacy will be a challenge – as we have seen in the past week, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s public statements that the 50-50 funding deal with the state was never actually inked.

Another reason for focusing on mobility is that the runway required for the planning and delivery of some of these massive infrastructure projects can be up to a decade. There is quite literally no time to waste.

Finally, the need for better mobility solutions for people with a disability has come into sharp focus in recent times thanks to Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk’s overdue decision to add “Paralympics” to her title of Olympics minister.

We should not miss that opportunity as a community.

Last year’s Future series led directly to the Premier agreeing to create a Legacy Committee to ensure a genuine focus in government on the long-term benefits of hosting the Games.

Our goal is, of course, that this year’s discussion similarly leads to real and necessary outcomes.

We welcome your ideas.

Chris Jones is editor of The Courier-Mail