Last week I, along with a group of others interested in the Ipswich central redevelopment attended the ‘walkshop’ hosted by the ICC project team to hear about what’s coming. ICC certainly have their work cut out for them. They need to have completed design, engineering and heritage assessments of the whole project by March 2027 before the state government will commit the funds. Aside from traffic modelling they are locating underground services, planing landscaping, building a new theatre and assessing the health of a number of trees on Brisbane Street. Several of the trees are very top heavy and could blow over with roots that are damaging the plumbing and foundations of the buildings along Brisbane Street.
The planned bikeway is a separated, bi-directional path on South St and Limestone Street. The Nicholas Street pedestrian mall will be extended up through d’Arcy Doyle Place and past the Civic Centre and incorporate a shared path to allow cyclists to cut through between South St, Limestone St and Brisbane Street.
As a thoroughfare for cyclists I think this will work quite well. South Street is already a convenient way to get in and out of the city. With a separated bike path, it will be even better.
Brisbane Street gets a bit of extra pedestrian space, lighting and landscaping to make it more welcoming.
The elephant in the room remains unaddressed. Brisbane street is four lanes of cars with a pedestrian area squeezed in on each side. The Bikeway doesn’t connect to Top of Town. Clearly, two traffic lanes and two lanes of on-street parking aren’t enough to really bring Brisbane street to life. Unless you enjoy breathing diesel fumes, top of town isn’t a super fun place to be. This project is a great start, but I think Ipswich central will continue to struggle until we find it in ourselves to prioritise people, instead of cars.
