Indooroopilly Archives - Over The Walter Taylor Bridge

To Build or Not to Build: The Debate Over a New Bridge from Chelmer to Indooroopilly

To build or not to build a new bridge from Chelmer to Indooroopilly: the question has been the subject of much discussion and debate since the idea was floated and particularly in recent months.

Read: Walter Taylor Bridge: Revisiting the History of Southern Hemisphere’s Only Habitable Bridge

Earlier this year, Brisbane City Council presented six options for a potential new bridge aimed at alleviating severe congestion on the existing Walter Taylor Bridge. Here are the potential solutions:

A four-lane downstream bridge and overpass near the rail line
A four-lane downstream bridge with a short under rail tunnel on Coonan St
A new four-lane bridge going upstream
Shifting Walter Taylor Bridge to two lanes northbound, whilst building another two-lane southbound bridge
Shifting Walter Taylor Bridge to two lanes southbound and then adding a new two-lane bridge northbound
No action despite the severe congestion at Walter Taylor Bridge

Community Feedback

New Bridge from Chelmer — Photo credit: Brisbane City Council

Although most residents agree something must be done to address congestion around the Walter Taylor Bridge, some have presented their own ideas for improving transportation in the area that don’t involve constructing another bridge.

BCC has summarised the insights identified through community consultation, based on data gathered from the pre-feasibility study conducted:

There is a high level of community support for infrastructure solutions, with 85% of respondents suggesting a need for infrastructure upgrade and a want to see improvements to the district and river crossing.
More than 70% of respondents suggested upgrading infrastructure by building another bridge or increasing capacity of the existing Walter Taylor Bridge, by making traffic improvements north and south of the river to reduce congestion and improve travel time reliability of road users.
63% of respondents cross the river three or more days in a week and 79% of respondents said congestion, travel time or reliability are the main challenges when crossing the river.
18% of respondents outlined a need for direct and more frequent bus and train services, including more connections servicing the northern and southern suburbs and better access to parking in and around the train stations.
12% of respondents wanted more active transport links to local paths and cycleways.
Only 1% of respondents don’t want any changes.
Brisbane City Council

Detailed findings are presented in the Outcome from Consultations and Key Findings Report.

Alternative Ideas

Meanwhile Cr Nicole Johnston (Tennyson Ward) argues that a new bridge will simply dump more cars onto already congested roads like Coonan Street and turn residential streets into thoroughfares. She advocates for improving public transportation as a preferable alternative.

Cr Johnston suggested making public transport for students free during school and university terms. She also called for more local bus loops connecting to train stations, extending the CityCat network, building new bike paths where they were lacking, and upgrading problematic intersections.

The opponents of a new bridge from Chelmer to Indro argue proper investigation is needed to determine the optimal location for improved river crossings in Brisbane’s western suburbs. They contend projects improving transportation options apart from private vehicles deserve priority consideration.

Read: Rocklea to Darra Upgrade Moves Forward With Oxley Creek Bridges Update

The debate seems guaranteed to continue as officials weigh the costs and benefits of relieving congestion on the bridge so vital for connectivity between Brisbane’s inner west and southwest. For now, the outcome remains uncertain.

Published 18-August-2023

Fix Indooroopilly Roundabout First Before Building Walter Taylor Bridge 2

Before a second Walter Taylor Bridge is built, the congestion at the Indooroopilly roundabout must first be addressed. This is the reaction of Councillor Julian Simmonds (Walter Taylor) after a #Taylor2 campaign was launched recently by Labor MP for Yeerongpilly Mark Bailey.

Some 100 people gathered at Graceville to voice out their demand for a secondary Walter Taylor bridge to handle the growing volume of traffic in the area.

Read: Government Urged to Build Second Walter Taylor Bridge

Cr Simmonds maintained that constructing the duplicate Walter Taylor Bridge without fixing the Indooroopilly roundabout would only create a bigger bottleneck. He said that the council is already in the process of providing a solution for the heavy traffic in the one-lane Walter Taylor Bridge.

An integral part of resolving the traffic issue is the acquisition of the Witton Barracks site from the Department of Defence in 2015. The rehabilitation and development of the old Witton Barracks is a prerequisite to the duplication of the bridge.

Cr Simmonds explained that planning did not commence earlier because they first needed to get hold of the Witton Barracks location. The councillor is currently consulting residents to aid them in coming up with a draft plan of turning the former barracks area into a public park.

The council has also started to transform the Indooroopilly roundabout into a T-intersection to improve its traffic capacity. Cr Simmonds believes that completing this upgrade is needed to avoid worse congestion when eventually the duplicate Walter Taylor bridge is built.

Government Urged to Build Second Walter Taylor Bridge

It has been planned for years, but the upgrade for Walter Taylor Bridge still needs to become a reality. As the bridge continues to cause bottlenecks during the peak hours of the day, some residents are putting pressure on the government to address worsening traffic situation in the area.

Protesters will be gathering on Saturday, 5 August at Nadine St Park in Graceville to call for action on people’s request to build a duplicate Walter Taylor Bridge.

Leading the rally is State MP for Yeerongpilly Mark Bailey. Mr Bailey has been vocal on social media, expressing his dismay at how Walter Taylor Bridge was ignored in the last budget.

Mr Bailey hit Brisbane City Council for allocating $650 million to expand Kingsford-Smith Drive from two lanes to three lanes, while not funding the upgrade of one-lane Walter Taylor Bridge.

He also launched an online petition at http://fight4qld.org/taylor2bridgenow and a Facebook page dedicated to the campaign.

Support for Walter Taylor Bridge 2

A second Walter Taylor Bridge connecting Indooroopilly and Chelmer has been proposed for years ago. It involves the construction of a duplicate bridge immediately downstream of the pedestrian and bicycle bridge. The second bridge could provide one lane in both directions or focus on southbound traffic, while the existing bridge will be for northbound traffic.

In a recent survey by Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ), the duplication of the Walter Taylor Bridge received strong support from respondents.

According to the RACQ survey, 65 percent of respondents supported the plan to construct a duplicate Walter Taylor Bridge, while 24.2 percent were neutral about the idea and 10.8 percent were against the proposal.