Kurilpa Bridge opening

Many Brisbane cyclists will have been watching the construction of the new $63.3m Kurilpa (Tank St) Bridge over the last nearly two years. Built by the state government's Department of Public Works, it will complement the popular Goodwill Bridge by providing a dedicated pedestrian and cycle bridge at the other end of the city reach of the Brisbane River.

The bridge is finally due to be opened this Sunday, 4 October by Premier Anna Bligh in a ceremony at 10:30am, with the public being allowed on the bridge from around 11:00 am. There will also be family entertainment, children’s activities and a free sausage sizzle. Come along and show the Premier how much interest there is in the community in new cycle facilities! See the link above for more details.

An aspect of the new bridge that hasn't received quite so much attention is the connectivity that bridge will provide. Left by the state government to work out how cyclists should get to and from the bridge, Brisbane City Council has taken the opportunity to roll out the first bi-directional, protected bike lanes in Brisbane. Tank St itself (where the bridge lands) is now one-way to motorised traffic but has a two-way bike lane separated from the motor traffic by a concrete kerb. It runs from the bridge up to George St, which also has a new, two-way bike lane, separated from motor traffic by a rubber separator, and connecting to existing bike lanes on Herschel St, Roma St and Turbot St (recently constructed as part of the King George Square cycle centre project.

Another interesting aspect of the construction of the new lane on George St is that it involved reclamation of road space from car parking. That's a win for sustainable and efficient transport in the city, but always politically tricky. We're hopeful that this project will be seen as enough of a success to get the political support required so that in the future we'll see more protected bike lanes and more connectivity through and around the city. Of course, the more provision we have for cyclists on the roads the more people will be encouraged to cycle, and the more people that cycle the easier this job gets!

Draft road rule amendments

As discussed at recent meetings, CBD BUG is working to have some road rules that we see as cycle-unfriendly amended. A draft of the proposed changes is available online.

The key proposed changes are to:

• Permit cycling across zebra and signalised crossings unless otherwise signed;
• Recognise a hierarchy of road users within a shared zone: pedestrians, then cyclists, then motorists;
• Remove obligations of cyclists in roundabouts beyond those of motorists;
• Give cyclists crossing the road the same right of way as pedestrians;
• Give cyclists discretion on when it is safe to use a bike lane; and
• Bring general obligations of cyclists more in line with those of other road users.

See the full document for all the details, and the current road rules for reference. As always, we're keen to hear what members have to say, so let us know what you think!

Twitter

You might have noticed it's been a bit quiet here on the blog recently. While we do intend to return to more regular updates when we can, there's now a new way to keep up with what's going on with the CBD BUG and cycling in Brisbane: Twitter. Twitter has been around for a long time and the BUG has been publishing meeting announcements on it for quite some time also, but in recent months we've been making an effort to put more useful bits of information on it.

We think it's a good way to keep members informed between our regular monthly meetings and e-mails without overwhelming you with frequent e-mails about what are often relatively minor issues. We'll post details of upcoming meetings, information from letters and meetings with government and other organisations, new and changed detours and closures, and anything else we think might be of interest. If you'd like to hear about something (in particular or in general), or have something that might be of interest to other members, let us know.

If you already use Twitter, you might like to consider following us. If you don't, you might like some information on it. If you're not really interested in using Twitter but would still like to get the information we put there, it's available in the sidebar of our blog (look to the right), or you could try subscribing to the RSS feed. If none of those ideas does much for you, let us know of any better suggestions you might have.

Cycling Promotion Fund Cycling Awards

Congratulations to Alton Twine, Principal, Active Transport Unit, Brisbane City Council and Lord Mayor Campbell Newman for taking out the top awards at the 2008 Cyling Promotion Awards. Alton Twin received the Cycling Promotion Award (Professional) for advocating for cycling with politicians and bureaucrats, successfully, and Campbell Newman received the Cycling Promotion Award (Special Initiative) for committing $100 million over four years to cycling projects, opening the King George Square Cycle Centre and the Transport Information Centre which promotes cycling.

Construction Work at Queensland Children's Hospital, Mater Hill

From Tuesday 5 May 2009 Stanley Street, South Brisbane near the Mater Hospital will be affected by demolition work in preparation for the Queensland Children's Hospital. For approximately 8 weeks, there will be an increase in truck movements into and off site, on an intermittent basis, using existing driveways. They expect no road or footpath closures, but cycle commuters should remain alert and careful when riding through this stretch of cycle network. Traffic controllers are expected. See this notice for more information.

CBD to become 40 km/h from 14 April

Brisbane City Council has informed us that the proposal to reduce the CBD speed limit to 40 km/h has been approved, and will take effect in two weeks, immediately after the Easter long weekend. The affected area is shown on the map in this letter.

A reduced speed limit in the CBD is something that CBD BUG has been seeking for some time, and we are overjoyed that it is now about to become a reality. We are confident this will help make the CBD a safer place for cyclists, and it is definitely a step in the right direction by BCC. In the future we hope it might be extended to include Ann St and Turbot St (important connecting streets but to remain at 60 km/h for now), to cover other areas, and ideally to be further reduced to 30 km/h.

BCC Active transport intercept interviews

The Brisbane City Council (BCC) Active Transport Unit will be conducting a survey of shared pathway users (cyclists and pedestrians) from Monday 23 March to Sunday 29 March 2009 and are seeking volunteers to help.

The aim is to understand user satisfaction with the current bikeway network, barriers to greater use and suggestions of improvements.

Volunteers won’t be alone or need to take anything to the locations as BCC staff will at each location - you'd be helping them do the surveys.

What you can do: Volunteer two hours of your time to administer on-site surveys by contacting Sabrina von Bayer, Project Officer, Active Transport Brisbane City Council on 3403 6717 or via email to Sabrina.VonBayer@brisbane.qld.gov.au.

Locations and times follow

Location	Timing (Weekday) 7am-9am	Timing (Weekend) 4pm-6pm	Weekend of 28th & 29th
Goodwill Bridge (South Bank)	Mon 23rd	Mon 23rd	Sat 9-11am
RiverWalk (Floating walkway- New Farm end)	Mon 23rd	Mon 23rd	Sun 9-11am
Sandgate Foreshore (Flinders Parade near 8th Ave )	Wed 25th	Tues 24th	Sun 9-11am
Wynnum Foreshore (Darling Point)	Wed 25th	Fri 27th	Sat 2-4pm
Kedron Brook Nundah ( Schulz Canal near Gateway Arterial)	Thurs 26th	Thurs 26th	Sat 2-4pm
Jack Pesch Bridge (Indooroopilly)	Tues 24th	Wed 25th	Sun 2-4pm
Story Bridge (Kangaroo Point end)	Tues 24th	Mon 23rd	Sat 9-11am
Coronation Drive Bicentennial Bikeway	Wed 25th	Tues 24th	Sat 9-11am
Enoggera Creek, Herston	Tues 24th	Wed 25th	Sat 9-11am
Bulimba Creek, Carindale	Fri 27th	Thurs 26th	Sun 2-4pm
Victoria Bridge, City	Tues 24th	Wed 25th	Sun 9-11am
Kedron Brook Ashgrove	Mon 23rd	Mon 23rd	Sun 9-11am
Land Bridge, Victoria Park (Near ICB)	Thurs 19th	Fri 27th	Sun 9-11am