Election 2020: Labor and LNP fight to fix Beams Rd traffic congestion
Labor and the LNP are promising multimillion-dollar projects as they go to war in Brisbane’s north for one of the state’s most marginal seats. But there’s just one thing locals want fixed.
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TENS of millions of dollars have been promised for congestion busting projects in the must-win seat of Aspley, as both major parties do battle over plans to tackle local traffic snarls.
First term Labor MP Bart Mellish will be squaring off against the LNP’s Amanda Cooper – a former Brisbane councillor who represented the Bracken Ridge Ward for over a decade in the council chamber.
Tackling traffic woes within the electorate on Brisbane’s northside is set to dominate the campaign for the seat, which both sides of politics need to win to stay in or form government.
The electorate, which Mr Mellish nabbed off the LNP at the 2017 election with a thin margin of 1.2 per cent, includes the suburbs of Carseldine, McDowall, Bald Hills as well as Aspley itself.
Mr Mellish said with its distance from the CBD, transport was a big issue in the electorate, with about 70 per cent of local residents using their car to get to work.
“I’ve been really keen on … trying to get firstly more people on public transport, improve public transport, and also make it easier for people who are commuting around the place,” he said.
He pointed to the government’s commitment to fix the notorious Beams Rd level crossing with a $128 million spend, along with funding from the council and federal government.
Shovels are set to hit the ground at the level crossing next year – with an overpass to be built over the rail line.
“It was a tough slog,” Mr Mellish said, identifying the secured funding for the project as his proudest achievement as an MP.
“I had to bash on many ministers’ doors. I’m glad we got there and we got the funding and work will start next year. I’m really pleased that that’s a big local win …
“I think Cross River Rail will be great for the area as well – more regular trains going from more stations.”
Meanwhile the LNP has promised to spend $90 million on an overpass across Gympie Rd at the intersection with Beams Rd to bust the local bottleneck.
Ms Cooper said traffic congestion was the number one issue in the seat and claimed the state government did not see Brisbane’s northside as a “priority”.
“And I’m just really concerned that if we don’t get a strong advocacy on behalf of our community that we will continue to be ignored,” she said.
“Undoubtedly, (Gympie Rd) is the arterial road on the northside and it’s carrying huge volumes of traffic and it needs to be upgraded.”
Under their overpass proposal, the existing traffic lights on Gympie Rd would be removed, but Gympie Rd traffic would still be able to turn onto Beams Rd and vice versa.
“(The intersection) is becoming worse and worse,” Ms Cooper said.
“It’s not just delayed in the morning and the afternoons … it’s delayed even on a Saturday morning.”
Ms Cooper said an LNP government would also go ahead with the Beams Road level crossing project, saying she helped secure $40 million from Brisbane City Council for the project before she left council.
The RACQ’s head of public policy, Dr Rebecca Michael, said the Gympie Road corridor – which lies in the heart of the electorate – was under “immense pressure”.
“Not only the congestion, but also you do tend to have a lot of crashes as result of that congestion – those nose to tail kind of crashes,” she said.
“You get obviously a lot of lost productivity and a lot of delays for motorists.”
According to the RACQ’s inaugural Cost of Congestion report, three stretches of Gympie Rd were among the top ten most costly roads for the economy last year.
This included the stretch between the intersection at Albany Creek Rd to the intersection at Beams Rd, which according to the report cost the economy more than $840,000 per kilometre in 2019.
Dr Michael said the RACQ supported the removal of level crossings, such as the Beams Rd crossing project – describing them as a “key choke point”.
“They do create or contribute to excessive congestion,” she said.
“By removing the level crossing, you are contributing to a more free flowing traffic environment without those boom gate down times that we’re currently experiencing.”
She said the RACQ could not yet comment on the suitability of the LNP’s Gympie Rd overpass plan, because they were yet to see the planning and design work.
“However what we can say is that Beams Rd, Gympie Rd intersection is a key choke point along Gympie Rd,” Dr Michael said.
“So we would definitely support further investigation about how to improve that intersection. But it is also about looking at fast tracking that North West Transport corridor.”
WHAT THE LOCALS SAY
A five-minute drive can turn to fifteen minutes of frustration due to Beams Road congestion – and it’s a problem that Aspley voters want fixed.
Traffic congestion and hooning drivers are some of the biggest issues for the Aspley electorate ahead of the October election – and Beams Road is the epicentre of both issues.
It’s been a regular problem for members of the Aspley Devils Rugby League club which holds training at the Beams Road Sports and Recreation Precinct.
Frustrated parents, whose children train at the club, say they’d devised convoluted back road trips just to avoid the gridlock.
“A five minute trip can turn to fifteen minutes,” Mum Shona MacLelland said.
Mum and club coach Mel Burns added: “It gets to the point that you kind of avoid going that way,”
Ms Burns said traffic was regularly backed up for more than “10 minutes” at the rail crossing, while drivers were also “zooming” through the Dorville Road roundabout after becoming impatient from the delays.
“If my kids ride to school … they use the light crossing to get across as opposed to at the roundabout,” she said.
“I won’t let them do it because of how quick cars come down that road.”
“Congestion busting” strategies for the notorious strip are being touted by both major parties.
The LNP has promised a Gympie road overpass if elected, while Labor has announced plans to remove the rail crossing next year.
Ms Burns said the removal of the rail crossing would “allow the flow between for everyone to get to where they need to go … without waiting for a train to cross”.
Originally published as Election 2020: Labor and LNP fight to fix Beams Rd traffic congestion
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