Brisbane City Council back-pedals on North Brisbane Bikeway and blames State Government

CITY Hall has back-pedalled on a bikeway plan that would have removed dozens of car parks and infuriated locals. Cyclists are begging the politicians to fix the “death corridor”.

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Brisbane City Council has back pedalled on a bikeway plan that would have removed dozens of car parks and infuriated locals but the council says it’s all the State Government’s fault.

Public and Active Transport chairman Adrian Schrinner has put the Price Street to Kedron Brook bikeway on hold until the State consults on its section of the North Brisbane Bikeway.

Cycling groups and locals alike believe the real reason for the holding pattern is the backlash against the project but that’s where their agreement ends.

The locals want the council to properly consult on the project while cyclists are desperate for politicians to stop the blame game and fix the “Albion Wooloowin death corridor".

The Price Street to Kedron Brook bikeway proposes removing 69 parking spaces and is the Council’s part of the North Brisbane Bikeway (NBB), from the Brisbane CBD to Chermside.

An artist's impression of how the council’s bike path may look along Kent St, Wooloowin. Picture: Supplied

Cr Schrinner said the State Government needed to consult on the section of bikeway that the Price Street to Kedron Brook bikeway will feed into — Stage 4.

“Until they firm up their plans, we will be putting our project on hold,” he said.

He said he had heard through “back channels” that the State Government was blaming the Council for the delay on releasing more details about its section of the NBB.

“We are not going to be the patsies that pop our head up to consult on a project, get smashed by residents who are against this project; meanwhile the State goes, oh, you know, with our section, we’re just waiting for Brisbane City Council to sign off on it,” he said.

“The State Government needs to go out and talk to the community about their section of the bikeway and any kind of lame and gutless attempts to blame Council for delays to their project are just rubbish.”

He added it appeared to him that the State Government wanted to sell off land along the railway corridor for development instead of using it for the bikeway and saving on-street parks.

Deputy Mayor Adrian Schrinner says its Price Street to Kedron Brook Bikeway is on hold until the State Government clarifies its position.

Brisbane CBD Bicycle User Group (BUG) co-convener Donald Campbell said the backlash against the project had the Council scared of losing votes.

“They care more about an individual being able to park their private property on a public street than somebody being hit by a car,” he said.

“The North Brisbane Bikeway corridor is known as the Albion Wooloowin death corridor. There have been numerous incidents where people have been taken to hospital.”

He said residents and businesses would benefit from the bikeway and compared to its $17 million price tag, there would be $80m worth of benefits, like better health and less traffic.

CBD Bicycle User Group co-convener Donald Campbell said the backlash against the project was losing the Council votes. Picture: Richard Walker

Wooloowin Animal Hospital owner Bob Inglis, who has a business and a home fronting the Council’s proposed bikeway route, said the concerns were about parking and poor consultation.

He said it was “a little bit strange” the Council was calling out the State Government for its consultation process when its own had been so poor.

“The normal expectation in the northern suburbs is these things are announced and implemented and that’s it. Nobody cares about you, they’ll just do it,” he said.

Mr Inglis said he and other business owners had scheduled meetings with the Council and finally had the opportunity to put forward their “two bob’s worth”.

He said they wanted alternate routes considered that would not affect parking, as well solutions to flooding problems that filled their shop floors with raw sewerage.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey told City Hall to stop the excuses.

Transport and Main Roads (TMR) Minister Mark Bailey told City Hall to stop the excuses and build the project, and added it needed council endorsement to progress its own section.

“Councillor Schrinner’s excuses for holding up the Northern Bikeway need to stop and City Hall needs to get on with it,” he said.

Mr Bailey said the State Government completed community consultation for stages 2, 3A, 3B and 3C in 2015, and forwarded that consultation to the Council in the same year.

He said after further consultation with the Council, Transport and Main Roads finished detailed design for stages 2 and 3 and submitted it to Council for endorsement in January.

“Once approved by council, the finalised design will be released to the public,” he said.

He said stages 2, 3B and 3C had only 300m of on-road bikeway with 1.2km off-road to minimise on-street parking losses.

Mr Bailey said safety concerns and site restrictions prevented the NBB from being built on the rail corridor.