The impending Wynnum Road corridor upgrade has sparked much debate and controversy in the inner east Brisbane community.
The Brisbane City Council estimates that once completed, travel time will be reduced by 50%, following the partial or full resumption of 49 properties to widen four lanes to six, on a road with 53 serious accidents over five years.
The Lord Mayor’s May community newsletter explains that The Wynnum Road corridor is “a key arterial road for Brisbane’s eastern suburbs and carries more than 56,000 vehicles per day.
Stage 1 of the project will… provide long overdue safety improvements by widening traffic lanes to the appropriate standard, removing unsafe right turns and upgrading the Heidelberg Street intersection.”
Works are now well underway for the widening of Lytton Road between Latrobe Street and Canning Bridge from four lanes to six by 2020 (providing one new lane in each direction). The roads will then merge back to four lanes at the bridge, which as a heritage-listed site, will not be widened to allow for the six lanes of traffic.
Property resumption for the $115 million project has forced residents to hand over homes and land to Brisbane City Council.
Council infrastructure chairwoman, Amands Cooper, said “we are absolutely understanding that it is tough for those who have to go through a resumption process, it’s not something anyone enjoys, it’s a difficult process and the council is very much committed to working with all impacted properties and making sure they’re supported through the whole process.”
She also said that the project was about giving people options, improving their mobility and dealing with the fact it was an unsafe corridor.
Newly elected Labor councillor for Morningside, Kara Cook, said the opposition supported the project and planned resumption. “This is an important project and I understand and acknowledge the objections in terms of property resumption but both myself and the Labor team support the resumption.”
Greens councillor Jonathan Sri, however, said the project was not in the public interest. “This isn’t about safety… it’s possible to improve safety outcomes without necessarily widening the corridor”
So, what do the locals think?
Wynnum Road resident and Place Bulimba Agent, Cathy Richards states her view.
“I live on the river in Norman Park and I don’t believe that the upgrade will make a huge difference to traffic, but obviously the council has spent a lot of money on removing the properties so I think it’s best to embrace it, look for the positive and hope that it will be of benefit later down the track.”
Facebook community group, ‘Lytton Road is wide enough’ have certainly made their opinions clear.
“The issue is a peak-hour problem, not a 24/7 problem. There are options that have not been adequately explored and offered to the commuters and to the community in general.”
They’ve even petitioned the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland, suggesting that the upgrade is a guise for the construction of more high-rise developments, as “more land is being acquired than needed for extra traffic lanes.”
“The most optimistic figures suggest the project will only cut two minutes off the journey to the CBD, rather, new bottlenecks are being created by the project.”
The petition requests the House to ask the Minister to “intervene and stop the BCC from proceeding further; to save Mowbray Park, its trees and adjoining cottage; to consider traffic implications for residents and schools; and to refer the matter to Crime and Corruption Commission Queensland to investigate the proprietary of the loss of heritage, change of Mowbray Park, and wholesale resumptions.”
Are these valid points, evidencing the uprooting of families for potential commercial gain? Or, is the Wynnum Road upgrade going to prove critics wrong and live up to council promises? Only time will tell.
