City of Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery slams lack of planning and funding for congestion-busting Bruce Hwy projects

The mayor of one of the state’s fastest-growing cities has slammed government inaction on the Bruce Highway, saying a “Great Wall of China” has been built around his community.

Peak hour traffic build up on the Bruce Highway at Griffin. Photo: Lachie Millard

The mayor of one of the state’s fastest-growing cities has slammed government inaction on the Bruce Highway, saying a “Great Wall of China” has been built around his community.

Despite the population of Moreton Bay set to almost double within the next three decades, Mayor Peter Flannery says politicians are ignoring growing bottlenecks on the stretch of the Bruce running through his region.

Progress has stalled on delivering projects such as the Bruce Highway Western Alternative and the Buchanan Rd overpass, which Mr Flannery says are essential for accommodating the future growth needs of the city.

Peak hour traffic build up on the Bruce Highway at Griffin. Picture Lachie Millard

“We’ve always been pushing that the Bruce Highway Western Alternative needs to be fast-tracked and brought forward, because the existing Bruce Hwy is just not going to cope with future growth,” he said.

“I think the attention there of widening the Bruce Hwy is a band-aid solution, we need to look at alternative routes north and south.”

He also called for the proposed Gympie Rd Bypass Tunnel to be extended further north to the Bruce Hwy or the Bruce Highway Western Alternative.

“With that current study with the tunnel that comes out at Carseldine, we want them to extend that study and look at connecting that to the Bruce Highway, or also to the Western Alternative, which is another solution,” he said.

“I haven’t heard any positive talk about them extending that study and look at the holistic approach rather than just what’s happening in Brisbane and how we get traffic in and out of Brisbane quicker, and not address the points of the bottleneck at the Pine Rivers Bridge.”

City of Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery said urgent work is needed to upgrade the Bruce Hwy. Photo: David Clark

Mr Flannery said there is a perception that the function of the highway through Moreton Bay is to get motorists elsewhere, leaving local commuters feeling ignored.

“There seems to be a focus that that road just needs to carry people through to other parts of Queensland or Sunshine Coast or Brisbane, where 500,000 people from the City of Moreton Bay often get on and off that Bruce Highway,” he said.

“It’s a huge problem, it’s a car park most mornings and afternoons.”

There were just over 510,000 people in the Moreton Bay region as of last year. The population is expected to grow to over 1 million within the next 30 years.

An RACQ study recently found that the Bruce Highway running through the City of Moreton Bay was the second most congested road in Queensland.

City of Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery and Queensland Premier Steven Miles. The start of the Bruce Hwy is in Premier Miles’ electorate of Murrumba. Photo: Richard Walker

Moreton Bay suburbs include those in Premier Steven Miles’ Murrumba electorate, Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath’s Redcliffe electorate, and Federal Member for Petrie Luke Howarth.

“With 14 state and federal politicians based in the City of Moreton Bay regularly travelling into Brisbane, you can’t tell me people who can make a difference haven’t witnessed first-hand the dire situation we are in,” Mr Flannery said.

“We feel that we’ve been left out. There seems to be that Great Wall of China between us and Brisbane that nobody seems to connect as far as road networks and public transport goes.”

Originally published as City of Moreton Bay Mayor Peter Flannery slams lack of planning and funding for congestion-busting Bruce Hwy projects