By Alistair Gray
Social media has been running hot and the question on everyone's lips has been: when does work on the new bridge begin?
Following an extensive community consultation program 12 months ago, we are now told what we already know: 89% of us think it is important to have improved access to the mainland in an emergency, 91% of us want improved safety on the bridge and 89% of us want less congestion on our trips to and from Bribie Island. Did we need a survey and a 12-month delay in getting our bridge to tell us that?
You can find other breakthrough survey results and findings in the Community Consultation Report… Caboolture Bribie Island Road Bribie Island Bridge Planning – January-February 2023. https://www.yoursay-projects.tmr.qld.gov.au/bribie-island-bridge (Go to the right of the page, Document Library, Consultation Report 2023).
Now, the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has produced a concept design for a new bridge for further community consultation before preparing a business case and then fighting for funding against the many competing priorities. Yes, after years and years of talk, successive Labor Governments have failed to allocate provisional funding for the bridge. So now, once our fancy business case is prepared, we will have to fight for funding against the backdrop of huge funding demands for the Olympics and massive state wide infrastructure needs. Where has the forward planning been? Residents of Bribie are tired of the talk - the community wants action. When is the bridge actually going to start and is the bridge right for the needs of our community?
After years of being told the life of the existing bridge is coming to an end, the bridge has been suddenly given the magic political pill of renewed life and any previous limitations were only around capacity issues, not an aging, deteriorating structure. If you talk to local bus drivers and passengers as they bounce their way across the bridge, they may well have a different view. The politicians can then rub their hands in glee as they can defer replacing the existing bridge and reduce the demands for funding for the new second two-lane bridge with an active transport path for bikes, pedestrians and mobility devices. The good news is the concept plans will give us a better traffic flow, with four lanes and wider roads, greater reliability and even the pelicans being looked after. The big question is, when is it going to happen?
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