‘Disruptive and dangerous’: Massive protest to shut down Story Bridge

Protesters will shut down all six lanes of the Story Bridge during peak-hour in a move slammed as “dangerous and disruptive”.

A protest is planned to disrupt traffic on the Story Bridge this Friday. Picture: David Clark

A Brisbane councillor has slammed a protest planned to be held during peak-hour traffic on the Story Bridge this week as “dangerous and disruptive”.

A protest that is planned to take place across the Story Bridge during morning peak-hour traffic on Friday, May 30 has drawn the criticism of Brisbane City Council’s Cr Andrew Wines.

It is understood the demonstrators are marching to demand the Brisbane City Council allocate one car lane to pedestrian, cyclist, and scooter traffic following the closures of the footpaths on either side of the bridge in March.

The Story Bridge in Brisbane. Picture Lachie Millard

According to the organisers of the protest, demonstrators will “stop car traffic on the bridge and use all six lanes to walk safely across”.

In a statement Cr Wines, who is the Chair for Brisbane City Council’s Infrastructure Committee, slammed the protest as “illegal”, as well as “dangerous and disruptive”.

“Brisbane commuters need to be aware of a dangerous and disruptive protest that will shut down traffic on the Story Bridge during peak hour on Friday morning,’ Cr Wines said.

“The cycling activists, who are taking a leaf out of the Extinction Rebellion playbook, plan to proceed with their illegal protest at 8am on Friday despite concerns raised by Queensland Police and Brisbane City Council.

“They plan to hold Brisbane commuters to ransom and cause chaos, just like Extinction Rebellion did a few years ago.

“The protesters are trying to force the closure of a lane of Story Bridge to traffic so it can be used by cyclists and pedestrians while work is underway to repair the bridge footpaths.

“However, the chaos this protest will cause will just prove the point that it’s simply not practical to close traffic lanes on the Story Bridge for the benefit of cyclists.”

The Story Bridge is closed on both sides to pedestrians. Pic: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

Cr Wines added that expert analysis by council found that two lanes of the would need to be closed to allow for cyclists and pedestrians to safely cross the bridge.

“This would cause daily traffic chaos not just on Story Bridge but on the Riverside Expressway, the Inner City Bypass, Wynnum Road, Gympie Road and Stanley and Vulture streets as well as other roads across the network,” he said. 

“We’re working to ensure the footpaths are reopened within months.”
Protest organiser Kathryn Good hit out at Cr Wines’ statement, calling it “absolutely outrageous”.

“Brisbane City Council have accused us of holding an illegal protest,” she said.

“This is not only factually untrue, but an absolutely outrageous statement to make.

“The organisers of this protest have submitted a Notice of Intention to QPS and Brisbane City Council well in advance of what is required.

“To be completely clear – at this very moment in time, the protest is legal, and is authorised under the Peaceful Assembly Act (1992).”

The sudden closure of the footpaths drew widespread criticism from thousands of cyclists, e-scooter riders and pedestrians who used the bridge for their daily commute to work.

Signs advising of the footpath closures on the Story Bridge. Pic: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

Ms Good added that the only way this would change is if a court order prevented the protest going ahead or made conditions about the protest.

“The organisers including myself have engaged in good faith with QPS and BCC,” she said.

“We are aware that they are seeking a court order to prevent the process and we have every intention of complying with any court orders made.

“That does not change the fact that this is a legal action until a court order states otherwise.”

Ms Good described the protest action as independent and not affiliated with “Extinction Rebellion”.

“We wish to make it known that this protest has absolutely no affiliation, official or otherwise, with Extinction Rebellion, The Greens, or any other political party or group,” she said.

“It is extremely disappointing that after engaging in good faith with BCC and QPS that they have published this outrageous and untrue statement.”

Traffic crossing the Story Bridge. Pic: David Clark

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner described the protest as “Extinction Rebellion on wheels’’ which would disrupt 96 per cent of users for the benefit of the 4 per cent who used the footpaths.

He accused Greens councillor Trina Massey of involvement in orchestrating the plan to close traffic lanes, something she strongly denied.

“I’m not behind anything. This is the community making a stand,’’ Ms Massey said.

Mr Schrinner said an Arup engineering report, tabled at last week’s council meeting, found the footpaths had only two to five years of life left so council had done the responsible thing to close them.

“Why are the footpaths closed? Public safety. It’s as simple as that,’’ he said.

He did not reveal when the footpaths would reopen, only saying the repairs were nearing the second stage after a contract was awarded recently to fix them.

Brisbane City Council closed the pedestrian and cycling footpaths on the Story Bridge in the lead up to Tropical Cyclone Alfred making landfall in South East Queensland in early March.

A detour is in place for cyclists and pedestrians using the new Kangaroo Point Bridge, while CityCat and KittyKat services also link Kangaroo Point to the city and Howard Smith Wharves.

After Ex-Tropical Cyclone lashed South East Queensland, engineers were required to complete a structural assessment before reopening the footpaths on the Story Bridge.

The assessment of the bridge by engineers at the time had found water leaking through the concrete.

Originally published as ‘Disruptive and dangerous’: Massive protest to shut down Story Bridge