Plans for a new pedestrian bridge across the Brisbane River are progressing, with boreholes to be drilled at South Bank in preparation for the bridge landing.
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A $70 million bridge that would connect the Queen’s Wharf casino complex to South Bank was proposed as part of the Destination Brisbane Consortium’s $3 billion Queen’s Wharf development.
From Wednesday, seven boreholes will be dug between the Clem Jones Promenade and the Wheel of Brisbane at South Bank, around the location of the future pedestrian bridge landing.
A spokesman for Destination Brisbane Consortium said the geotechnical investigations would be completed by the end of August and would inform the final bridge support system design.
Brisbane City Council’s public and active transport chairman Adrian Schrinner has previously called for the bridge to be scrapped.
Cr Schrinner said $70 million was a waste of money for a bridge that serviced only pedestrians.
“In terms of geotechnical drilling, obviously that is preparation work they have to do and the council is still of the view there could be a much better solution for the city,” he said.
Cr Schrinner said it was “fair and reasonable” for Neville Bonner to have a public asset named after him and proposed naming the council-supported, but not -funded, Kangaroo Point Bridge after Neville Bonner.
“Kangaroo Point Bridge could potentially be the new Neville Bonner Bridge,” he said.
A spokeswoman for the State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning Department said Economic Development Queensland’s approval for Queen’s Wharf Brisbane included the concept design for the pedestrian-only bridge.
“Economic Development Queensland will assess the detailed designs of the Neville Bonner Bridge once the application is lodged,” the spokeswoman said.
“Economic Development Queensland has consulted with Brisbane City Council on multiple occasions since 2015 on the Queen’s Wharf Brisbane project and the Neville Bonner Bridge.
“Council has provided three formal submissions during various planning and assessment phases since September 2015.
“None of these submissions raised any objections to the pedestrian-only Neville Bonner Bridge.”
Cr Schrinner said the term objection was a technical one, and while the council had not said to stop the project, it had raised concerns.
“A formal objection is different to raising concerns and we have definitely raised concerns,” he said.
The drilling will take place between 6.30am and 6.30pm, Monday to Saturday, from August 8 to August 22.
As the Queen’s Wharf development progresses, the removal of material from the site at night will continue, with more than 170 trucks expect to exit the site six days a week.
Approval has now been given for the night haulage to run from 6.30am to 4am, Monday to Saturday, until August 2019.
This is two hours longer than the initial approval for the haulage, which began June 4.
The Destination Brisbane Consortium spokesman said that after the initial trial period for the night haulage, the works would continue running to relieve pressure on daytime traffic.
