Re: Brisbane Light Rail,Briztram - questions

["Trainman" <trainman@oznetcom.com.au>]

And as any Brisbane motorist knows, St Lucia is a mongrel of a place to get
lost in at the best of times. I know - I've done it!
Matthew Nolan wrote in message <36BD68CB.6A8D59D1@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?