Council plan to extend Brisbane clearways to unclog roads | See the locations

Council has identified 14 busy Brisbane roads where it wants to extend clearways to unclog traffic. But not everyone’s a fan of the idea.

A car being towed from a clearway in Alice St in the CBD. Council will extend clearways in a low-cost bid to bust congestion. Picture: Richard Walker

Council has identified 14 busy Brisbane roads where it wants to extend clearways to unclog traffic as part of a citywide congestion plan modelled on Sydney’s approach.

The program would kick off with Musgrave Rd-Waterworks Rd between Red Hill and The Gap, where parked cars forced motorists to weave between lanes.

The corridor currently has clearways in effect between 7am and 9am, inbound, and 4-7pm outbound, Monday-Friday.

Public consultation on the best sites has begun but in coming years council has identified clearways including: Bowen Bridge Rd–Lutwyche Rd; Abbotsford Rd in Bowen Hills; Wynnum Rd; Vulture St; Wellington Rd in East Brisbane; Moggill Rd; Webster Rd in Stafford; Wickham Tce–Leichhardt St in Spring Hill; St Pauls Tce in Fortitude Valley; Klumpp Rd in Upper Mt Gravatt.

In 2024, there were at least 9650 cases of motorists blocking clearways and more than 1660 vehicles had to be towed from clearways.

The fine for parking in a clearway is three penalty units, or about $480.

A car being towed from a clearway on Alice St in the CBD. Picture: Richard Walker

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said it was a low-cost measure to tackle congestion and was modelled on Sydney’s experience.

He said intersection upgrades could cost multi-millions, while widening roads was not an option in many areas such as Waterworks Rd-Musgrave Rd which were lined on both sides by character homes.

Mr Schrinner said as well as more and longer clearways, longer hours of operation would be considered in some areas.

No-parking hours could also be extended to weekends, particularly Saturdays, in busy areas.

“I want to make better use of our existing road network to bust congestion,’’ Mr Schrinner said.

“It’s frustrating to be unnecessarily stuck in traffic, which is why I want to take a holistic look at how our clearways work and how we can make them better.

“We have seen the results from clearway changes in other capital cities and I am interested to see how a similar approach could make getting around Brisbane easier.”

Infrastructure chair Andrew Wines said council would be consulting with residents and businesses along the proposed corridors.

In previous years some business owners, including in the CBD, have opposed clearways as it made it more difficult for customers to park nearby.

Labor Opposition Leader Jared Cassidy said it was another example of the Lord Mayor “putting PR spin on an announcement to try to distract from what is actually going on”.

“The truth is, this LNP Council is overseeing the worst congestion Brisbane has ever experienced and they don’t have a plan, nor the funds in the budget, to actually make a meaningful difference to people’s daily lives,” he said.

“If the only thing Brisbane residents get from paying their rates is a clearway sign, things are bleak”.

Cars on Waterworkd Rd have to weave between lanes due to parked cars. Picture: AAP/Sarah Marshall

The clearway review would initially focus on clearways currently in place across Brisbane.

There have been no changes to clearways in almost two and a half years.

The last change was on Kelvin Grove Rd-Enoggera Rd in August, 2022 when the hours were extended by one hour in morning and afternoon peaks.

That delivered total time savings through the corridor of almost 6500 hours per year.

The Sydney Clearways Strategy, which reviewed more than 1000km of roads slashed travel times by up to 46 per cent on weekdays in some cases.

Originally published as Council plan to extend Brisbane clearways to unclog roads | See the locations