The WBBAG and REPA met with the WBTNI on Thursday the 23rd of August, 2007. The meeting was arranged as a follow up to the WBBAG response to the WBTNI Draft Terms of Reference. One of our primary objectives for the meeting was to have the WBTNI address a list of questions we have put together based on feedback and questions from the community. With that in mind, those questions and our interpretation of the WBTNI answers follow along with a short summary of interesting points we noted during the meeting.

    Data Collection         May   2006 - March 2007
    Scenario Development    April 2007 - Late  2007
    Preferred Strategy      Late  2007 - Mid   2008

General Meeting Notes

The WBTNI is a Queensland Transport project. It was a Main Roads project, but as the scope increased it moved across to QLD Transport (2006). So now Main Roads is managing the project for Queensland Transport.

Brisbane City, Ipswich City and Pine Rivers Shire Councils are on project Advisory Board.

Following the Route 20 study, traffic problems were identified in Western Brisbane. In 1997, the Integrated Regional Transport Plan (IRTP) for SEQ stated that "While there is no need for another bypass of Brisbane for long distance traffic" ... "A transport investigation needs to be undertaken to determine how to resolve future network deficiencies in the western Brisbane area." (SEQ IRTP Chapter 8.6, pg 67). The study was for various reasons not commenced. WBTNI is very similar in scope to the originally proposed study except that it has decided to address the question that has been raised many times in recent years of whether there is a need for a Western Bypass of Brisbane.

In 2005 a Regional Plan was produced that promoted growth in western corridor. The project was re-scoped as the WBTNI to address transport problems and growth.

The WBTNI was originally started to:

• Address Western Brisbane Transport problems.
• Address growth in the rapidly developing Western Corridor.
• Consider "infill" development in Western Brisbane.

The 2026 SEQIPP (South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan and Program) shows the only infrastructure slated for Western Brisbane as being the Ferny Grove rail duplication and transit lanes on the Centenary/Western Freeway. It also shows that the expected urban footprint by 2026 includes almost no change to the existing Western Brisbane area, with a small pocket of growth in the Moggill/Bellbowrie area.

The arguments for a ring road only work well in homogeneous cities. The WBTNI does not consider Brisbane a homogeneous city. The land use to the east of the city is substantially different to the west. The port of Brisbane, the airport and the terrain are significant influences on the land use, and thus the transport requirements.

The WBTNI defined a "bypass" as a road that bypasses and does not feed into the local traffic system. A Brisbane Valley option would most certainly be a true bypass. An option closer in but still west of Mt Coot-tha would be less likely to be a bypass and more likely to be an orbital or ring road. It is still possible to ensure an inner option would be a bypass by utilising design (ie., on/off ramps, tolls and fines).

The WBTNI ran us through their SEQSTM (South East QLD Strategic Transport Model). This model did not exist and was a significant function of the WBTNI. The Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast versions (GCSTM/SCSTM) were also mentioned. The model is being run on extrapolated 2001 Census data and the recent 2006 census data will be included soon. The WBTNI verifies the extrapolated data and model by actually testing trips times on roads versus the estimated trip time the model produces.

The SEQSTM runs in a rough triangle from Cooloola to the Tweed and out slightly west of Esk. It divides this area into 813 zones. By comparison, the Brisbane City model (BSTM) is 4000 zones and a much smaller area. The coarse granularity is a reflection of the macro level of the WBTNI.

The WBTNI has just started simulation runs on the Brisbane Valley and West of Mt Coot-tha zones. The project is only looking at need within a zone and not alignment

The often quoted "10% traffic reduction would fix congestion" number was confirmed, and likewise, a %10 increase will be effectively gridlock.

The WBTNI is engaging the public by:

• Staffed public displays
• Static displays
• A second newsletter
• Advertisements
• Briefings
• Community Liaison Groups
• Workshops

The WBTNI were just as unhappy with the WBTNI newsletter distribution as we were, and apologised. Apparently they were under internal time constraints to deliver the newsletter as soon as possible and chose the delivery mechanism accordingly.