Re: Brisbane Light Rail,Briztram - questions

[Matthew Nolan <mnolan@uq.net.au>]

Colin Weaver wrote:
> 
> > I take it that the objections were from the genteel burghers of St Lucia
> > to the folk of South Brisbane and West End being able to use the tram to
> > visit their treelined boulevards, rather than the other way round?
> 
> Not so - when the previous government conducted an opinion poll of residents
> along the proposed BrizTram route, the peak levels of support (> 90%) were
> found in St Lucia and New Farm, both of which have now been dropped from
> the light rail scheme.  IMHO the reason why the St Lucia line has been
> dropped is entirely due to opposition to the scheme by the Labor member
> for South Brisbane / West End.  The whole Brisbane Light Rail - BrizTram
> saga reflects the sad realities of public transport planning, where
> politics and pay-back have more to do with planning than actual public
> need.  The end result is that we're ending up with half a light rail
> system, which neatly avoids the residential areas and university which
> it was originally intended to serve.  As far as I'm concerned, not
> crossing the river to St Lucia will come to be seen as the major flaw
> in the Brisbane Light Rail scheme - anyone who has ever struggled through
> peak hour traffic to the university will know what I mean.
> 
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Agreed. UQ is badly placed to take advantage of public transport, esp.
from city. There is little doubt that it would be well patronsied. As to
St Lucia residents complaining, if the line crossed the river, surely it
would go straight into UQ, thereby avoiding the actual residential area
of St Lucia. There is also the problem of accessing St Lucia from West
End. A road bridge is understanably not favoured, as there is no through
road in St Lucia capable of handling traffic, but surely a light rail
system would mitigate this problem?