I’m happy to share that, in the Council’s new 24/25 budget, $234 000 has been set aside to design a dedicated active transport link along Sylvan Rd in Toowong. Unfortunately this budgeted amount is for design work only, which means there is no commitment to actually building it.
This is an example of an emerging LNP council strategy of increasingly announcing design work for various projects, but no budget for the actual construction. This way, they can say that they’re ‘doing something’ without actually committing to building it. Communities then have to wait for several years or more.
Sylvan Road is the connector between the Western Freeway Bikeway and the Bicentennial Bikeway, forming the main western corridor for bicycle traffic. Unfortunately, Sylvan Road has been one of the many weak links in Brisbane’s bicycle network for years. This major bike route has seen multiple bike riders injured because of the unsafe conditions. ‘Space for Cycling Brisbane’ have reported that, along some sections, cyclists comprise 40 per cent of all traffic using Sylvan Rd between 7am and 8am. That’s over 1500 cyclists per day!
As far back as May 2015, nearly 10 years ago, a petition of 700 signatures was presented to Brisbane City Council asking for construction of protected bike lanes on Sylvan Rd. After some 10 years of advocacy and lobbying by the cycling community, countless injured cyclists , and national media reports on how unsafe this road is for cyclists, we finally get some budget, but only for design work.
The whole 2024/25 council budget is characterised by missing line items for major projects that were in previous budgets. This lack of transparency and accountability is unfortunately a hallmark of this LNP administration.
Our office and The Gabba Ward of Cr Trina Massey, have tried to find out how much this administration is spending on extending our vital protected active transport network. Due to the lack of transparency in this budget it’s virtually impossible to tell, but it looks like it’s only $8 million, out of a total transport budget of $854 million. That amount excludes possible funding for a bikeway connecting the Kangaroo Point Green Bridge to Lytton Rd, which is dependent on whether the State Government will fund 50% of it. $8 million is woefully inadequate and is less than 1% of the transport budget. To put this in perspective, the United Nations recommends 20% of transport budgets should be spent on walking and cycling infrastructure.
Photo Credit: Space for Cycling, FB 22/8/23