I recently was emailed if we wanted to save Kenmore, then what was our stance on the option of Moggill Road being widened to 6 lanes as an alternative to the Kenmore Bypass?
To make it clear to everyone - our group does not support the Kenmore Bypass and does not support widening Moggill Road to 6 lanes - both requiring massive resumptions of land.
Please refer to our presentation to the Minister for Main Roads 15 April 2008 long before either Main Roads plan became public linked on this website.
You can also see the principles our group stands firmly behind which as you suggest is not to shift disaster from one group to another.
Main Roads identify the problem being congestion on Moggill Road at peak hour in the mornings during school term. Traffic gets caught at pinch points and does not flow.
10 years ago many of the people in our group voluntarily gave up our time and met many times with Main Roads in a community reference group and suggested improvements to Moggill Road.
At no time did these involve widening Moggill Road to six lanes and we strongly believe this is a ridiculous alternative to reduce traffic congestion on Moggill Road.
The group suggested hundreds of ideas which included things like improving the flow at the pinch points at OLR, Kenmore Roundabout and pedestrian crossings.
Main Roads have now stated they have no way to fix these problems whether they do the Kenmore Bypass or not, which I personally find so disappointing and frustrating. These problems will remain if they build the bypass.
Our Engineers advise us that our solutions listed are perfectly adequate to improve traffic flow so that congestion in peak hours will not be seen.
Another solution in addition to these is building a bridge at Bellbowrie which would involve canvassing the locals on the best location to maximise their use of the rail at Wacol (ample park and ride) and the 3 freeways. The Govt owns land on the Wacol side and at a couple of locations on the Bellbowrie side. It was a condition on John Booker with the original development and we are told he paid for it. This gives alternative access out and means less cars travelling in on Moggill Road through all the suburbs.
Our solutions would cost a pinch of what a freeway through Kenmore would cost, not allow a connection to the Warrego Highway and would solve local traffic congestion at peak time (Main Roads agree that is the only problem time).
Other solutions involve providing services local to where people need to use them and this includes education and health. If these are not local, people have to travel, thus contributing to congestion.
I know this is an emotive issue and one that involves the whole of Government working towards solutions to traffic congestion. Our suburbs are no different to others across Brisbane. However, ours is the only one where people are proposing to put an open freeway through high density housing.
Please let me know your thoughts and any other alternatives you have thought of.
3 Comments to “We oppose widening Moggill Road to 6 lanes”
Kathy(2)
Certainly none of us want to see resumptions in the Moggill Road area. Our stance right from the beginning has been to NOT relocate the congestion problem from one area to the other, which, in peak times, is all the bypass would achieve. Resumptions anywhere should be the absolute last option when all else has failed.
Surely the answer is in some of the ideas the group has put forward, eg ease the pinch points and build a bridge to give people the chance to go in the ‘right’ direction. Even if the bypass goes through, the bridge should as well, to prevent all the lengthy ‘backtracking’ that occurs on Moggill Road.
Kenmore Village must have some serious sway or the abysmally placed roundabout there would never have occurred in the first place, and certainly would have been ‘fixed’ once it became apparent that not only is it an unnecessary ‘pinch point’ but highly dangerous as well. Like most of us, I use it regularly and hold my breath at the near misses as people come round the roundabout and cross lanes to get into the shopping centre.
IF the last 12 months or so (however long Moggill Road works have been taking place) is part of the argument ‘for’ the bypass, then that is skewed data as the travel times have to be greatly exaggerated by the extensive road works which while extremely painful, won’t go on forever.
Re the comment “ours is the only one where people are proposing to put an open freeway through high density housing”. With the bypass extremely likely to eventually be a long-haul truck route, what is a reasonable buffer for such a road? Even after the resumptions, the homes that are left along eg Marland and Twilight Street couldn’t be much more than 30 metres or so from a major sub arterial road - my thought was surely not possible in this day and age but I must be wrong or the Warrego link wouldn’t be under consideration.
It seems to me the suggestions the group has put forward are alternatives that make sense, both environmentally and cost wise.
Lauren
what reasons did Main Roads have for not fixing the pinch points at OLR and Kenmore Roundabout?
ive also noticed that cars slow done to enter the new shopping strip opposite Coffee Club at Kenmore (outbound Moggill Rd, next to Kenmore SS).
RE: houses remaining on Marland and Twilight streets, 30m from KB - i don’t think Main Roads cares about these people unfortunately……….
Penny Behan
Not fixing the Kenmore Roundabout is the most annoying and frustrating fact about this situation for me personally. I can recall going to a Main Roads public meeting with my Dad shortly after it was put in (20years ago approx). They defended the decision then despite Traffic Engineers who lived locally saying it was a design nightmare, inefficient, dangerous and should not have the shopping centre entrance on it.
Your questions relating to the pinch points and the meeting last week: regarding the reasons they haven’t fixed things since the last CRG and community reports to Main Roads 10 years ago - they are getting back to me with more specifics, they did try to be helpful and did go through the reports fully. The senior Manager in network planning I thought I was meeting with was unable to attend. I had advised it was not part of the Kenmore Bypass Study and yet they must have thought it was, as I think 3 of 4 were from there. However, at the meeting I waited 10 weeks for an answer about that question, the responses ranged from: that project manager left and they will try to reach him, there are no problems with these areas like the roundabout, it may be BCC’s problem, they can’t change the shopping centre entrance on the roundabout for legal reasons, they don’t fund assistance to private facilities and schools, etc etc.
Regarding the strip shops at Almay St, I was advised at a public meeting when that development was approved, that they had to provide a slip lane on Moggill Rd in at Almay St, so that they would not slow traffic on Moggill Road. It was never built which was raised in the CRG I was on with Main Roads all those years ago and I asked about this again last week.
I will let everyone know what answers I get.
I know all this is very frustrating for everyone.
I think Main Roads appreciated the fact that we are volunteers who have for 30 years (in some cases) tried to foresee what would be required to prevent traffic congestion and made suggestions, many of which have not been implemented.
On a really positive note, Main Roads traffic branch advised they are putting in new loops underground during resurfacing and finally networking with BCC so that the lights on Moggill Road will finally be fully syncronised. He thinks this will assist traffic flow, in particularly the terrible peak hour bottle neck under the Western Freeway at Chapel Hill/ Indooroopilly.