Friday, November 04, 2005
Sending the right message to pedestrians
I sent the attached letter to my local Councillor, Kim Flesser, date as marked. Despite what residents are beginning to cry out for (see here and here), Brisbane City Council – under the leadership of Lord Mayor Campbell Newman – continues its strategic drift towards assuaging the car driver and a malign acceptance of projections showing growing traffic levels.

This city-wide surrender is reflected at a local level through poorly designed pedestrian- and cycle-crossings at suburban intersections. People talk of connectivity, of walking more; getting out of their cars, but there is little incentive to do so. “Pedestrians – actually ‘people’ – have become second class citizens, to be retro-fitted as an afterthought, once the needs of the motorcar have been satisfied.”

Underlining Brisbane’s twisted logic, recreational opportunities abound for cyclists and pedestrians. There is a network of trails along green corridors (once expanding, now not expanding, thanks to budget cuts to fund tunnels). But unfortunately, few of these routes serve to get people out their cars for the remaining five days in the week. The only welcome cyclist is a ‘lifestyle’ cyclist.

There are countless poor intersections across Brisbane. Whilst simply altering traffic light signals will not singularly get people out of their cars, it is a virtually cost-free initiative that begins to send the message that pedestrians and cyclists are both welcome and equal users of the city’s road network. “It is about reclaiming just a small piece of space and time amongst the traffic, for people.”

To my amazement, Cr Flesser phoned back the day he received the letter and we spoke on the phone for half an hour. He will log my specific request re: the intersection of Toombul and Melton Roads and will have a report prepared. He also clarified Labor’s position vis-à-vis the tunnels.

He was understandably a little cagey; not really knowing who I was, what my agenda was or even who I voted for. I challenged him that Labor was simply rolling over, accommodating Newman’s plans, despite Labor holding the majority – and thus controlling the budget – over the Liberals in Council.

It seems the Labor group is still shit-scared of the press – notably The Courier-Mail. In the fallout of the last election after Brisbane residents voted in this dysfunctional Council, the Labor Group got burned during period of jockeying for power.

Regardless of where the institutional power lay in Council, whenever the Labor group blocked Newman, they were slated in the paper. In time they were cowed into a compliant (majority) opposition. With The C-M tub-thumping over infrastructure and Newman setting out to spend $4.7 billion dollars on roads, Brisbane’s politics had reached a comfortable nexus.

But The C-M is no longer in awe of Newman, nor his tunnels. Since the State government kicked off its regional planning agenda, the community, the media and the politicians have undergone a massive learning process. This is reflected in a more considered view emanating from the editorial desk at The Courier-Mail, with space commonly devoted to critical opinion pieces.

Residents are now no longer sure the answer lies in simply bigger and more expensive infrastructure – especially of the road and tunnel variety.

Cr Flesser assured me that we will start to see a more vocal Labor Group. Their support of the Airport Link is limited solely to funding feasibility study and they will challenge Newman on the business sustainability of the North South Bypass Tunnel if - when the two tenders come in – it goes above Brisbane City Council’s line of credit with the State government.

This is heartening, as although the majority of Brisbane residents probably still support more roads, the higher the quality of debate, the more sceptical they become.

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