Days of massive traffic delays coming as westside cut off from Ipswich

Traffic is so bad in Brisbane’s westside that some families have moved to Ipswich, with monster two-hour delays set to remain for days. CityCats meanwhile will not be back to normal for up to three months.

Some westside families have temporarily moved to Ipswich to beat monster traffic jams stretching for kilometres following last week’s floods.

An area from Kenmore to Mt Crosby, home to more than 20,000 people, still has only one road in and out with all Brisbane River crossings likely to be cut for days to come.

Hundreds of students were late for school this morning and yesterday, with overcrowded buses taking almost two hours to make it through the bottleneck on Moggill Rd and connecting roads.

Local MP, Dr Christian Rowan, yesterday wrote to Transport Minister Mark Bailey begging for more bus services, and longerterm solutions.

Traffic on Marshall Ln, Kenmore. Picture: Skin Care on Sylvan/Facebook

He said there were no viable river crossing allowing access to Ipswich, forcing all residents to take Moggill Rd into the city and then double back on the Western Fwy.

Mt Crosby Weir bridge was probably significantly damaged, Colleges Crossing was likely to remain closed for days, Kholo Bridge (Bells Crossing) was closed and several other minor crossings were also still cut.

He said Kholo Bridge would need engineering assessment and certification, as well as clearing of debris, once the water subsided — as had happened with Ugly Gully Bridge.

WHAT KENMORE-MOGGILL AREA RESIDENTS SAID

Michelle

Took me 40 minutes from Bellbowrie to Kenmore leaving at 7 and didn’t see any accidents today! Truly ridiculous.

Simone

Just took me an hour and half to get to Mt Ommaney. Left home at 7.15 in Moggill, just got here.

Rebecca

1.5 hours from Anstead to Middle Park yesterday. As bad today of course too.

Cassie

Took me 1.5 hours to get to work, normally 45 mins. Was backed up along Mt Crosby Rd all the way to Western Freeway. It’s ridiculous.

Karen

Traffic to get into Kenmore is back to Bellbowrie McDonald’s.

Peta

2 hours 5 mins for me to get to Ipswich Girls Grammar leaving at 7.20.

Mt Crosby Weir bridge has been badly damaged.

“The traffic chaos local residents are having to endure is a direct result of years of neglect by the State Labor Government to comprehensively plan and deliver an integrated road and public transport plan for the western suburbs,’’ Dr Rowan said.

“It is unacceptable that parents, children and residents heading to work are having to sit in traffic delays spanning, in many cases, over two hours.

“While key local river crossings and bridges have suffered significant damage, the rectification of these key access points for local residents must be prioritised.

“I am aware of families that are already having to temporarily relocate to Ipswich in order to maintain employment and schooling while these crossings remain closed.’’

Colleges Crossing last week. It will be cut for days yet. Picture: Liam Kidston

Dr Rowan said the problems were particularly bad for residents in Karana Downs, Mt Crosby, Kholo and Lake Manchester.

“A full update and timeline for rectification and opening of these crossings, particularly what is happening with the Mt Crosby Weir Bridge and at Colleges Crossing, must be provided to local residents by the State Government today, as well as a plan to comprehensively manage ongoing traffic congestion and ensuring the safe and timely travel for local students travelling to and from school.

“The State Government must also commit to a comprehensive review of the disaster management response, including whether infrastructure planning will also be progressed to ensure emergency service and community access via road and full traffic bridge infrastructure at at Bellbowrie.’’

A yacht stuck on a CityCat terminal. Picture: John Gass

Seqwater is planning construction of a new two-lane bridge adjacent to the existing Mt Crosby Weir Bridge, which is 95 years old and runs along the top of Mt Crosby Weir.

It will be downstream of the weir, more flood resilient and will have two lanes to accommodate traffic and heavier vehicles.

It comes as Council City Transport Chair Ryan Murphy earlier this week said it could take three months for Brisbane’s CityCat fleet to resume normal services.

“At the moment it looks like we have only lost one CityCat, but there is extensive damage to the terminal network, and a number of other vessels that were in the river we are yet to make damage assessments on,” Cr Murphy told 4BC radio station.

“It does look like the city’s CityCat network will be out of action for probably up to three months, maybe longer, depending on repairs.”

The Milton ferry terminal strewn with debris including a powerboat.

After 2011 it took three months to get ferries running again and a series of temporary terminals and walkways was needed until the rebuild could be completed.

The new terminals, which cost up to $15 million each, were billed at the time as the world’s first flood resilient ferry terminals and won an Australian Good Design Award in 2017.

Architect Brendan Gaffney from Cox Architecture and Aurecon engineer Arne Nilsen even delivered a TEDx talk about the radical design.

“We devised a number of solutions to prevent destruction from flooding in the future,’’ Mr Gaffney said at the time.

Dr Rowan (third from right) and Cr Greg Adermann (fourth from right) at a food drop they organised at Mt Crosby last week.

“These included fitting the gangways with air tanks, a hinge and a clasp enabling them to float and swivel around under the flood’s force; a single pier tall enough to prevent the pontoons floating off and robust enough to withstand large vessel impacts as well as shaping the pontoon like a boat to deflect debris.’’

Cr Murphy said The Harbour Master still had closed the river to boat traffic because of concerns about sunken debris.

The navy was assessing the debris, some of which will have to be removed.

“In 2011, seven terminals were destroyed. In 2022, all our terminals remain in place – a testament to the upgrading of ferry terminals over the last 10 years,’’ he said.

“Our terminals now incorporate flood resilient technology including swinging articulated gangways on some terminals and strengthened deflector piers to protect from debris impact.

“Each terminal is different, and velocity of water in the river is not uniform, so not all gangways would swing open.

“The gangways at Holman Street, QUT, Milton and UQ swung open.’’

The decommissioned Thornton Street terminal was swept away and the Regatta terminal suffered major damage.

Other terminals were being assessed for damage.

Eight damaged CityCats have been stood down pending insurance claims, while the Beenung-Urrung sank after being struck by a houseboat.

The Kuluwin suffered heavy damage and all four KittyCat ferries are off the river being assessed for damage.