Transport planning for development

Brisbane City Council is working to manage, upgrade and extend Brisbane’s local transport network to minimise traffic congestion and maintain our safety and enviable lifestyle.

Council has a multifaceted approach to providing the appropriate infrastructure to manage growth demands in Brisbane. While Council provides and maintains local roads, bikeways, pedestrian paths and bus stops, some higher order roads are the responsibility of the Queensland or Australian Government. TransLink (Queensland Government) provides and manages the public transport network including rail and bus services.

In consultation with local residents and government agencies, future infrastructure is determined as part of Council’s long-term, citywide planning process and outlined under Brisbane City Plan 2014 (City Plan). At a local level, traffic infrastructure, movements and predictions are re-assessed as part of the neighbourhood planning process. The impacts of individual developments are checked as part of the development application process, which requires a traffic impact assessment to be submitted.

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Strategic planning and transport modelling for future transport infrastructure

The Queensland Government set down growth targets to ensure future development occurs around ‘growth nodes’ located in the following areas:

  • in the city centre and inner city
  • near employment precincts such as around universities and hospitals
  • around major shopping centres along nine growth corridors based on, or near, railway lines, busways and high-frequency bus routes.

As part of the development of City Plan, traffic modelling was undertaken to understand how increased growth would affect the existing road network and how people are likely to travel across Brisbane.

When needed, Council may also use network simulation models and individual intersection transport models to test different scenarios within a study area to inform future infrastructure upgrades.

How does Council determine when new road infrastructure is needed?

Development proceeds in accordance with City Plan and infrastructure is delivered in stages or where critical thresholds are reached.

The neighbourhood planning process includes opportunities for community members to be involved in the planning for their area such as becoming a member of a Community Planning Team, attending a Talk to a Planner session or information kiosk, or by making a submission.

Traffic studies as part of the neighbourhood planning process

Council’s award-winning neighbourhood planning program continues to refine City Plan’s strategic framework and deliver localised planning outcomes in partnership with local communities. At the time of a development application, the applicant may be required to undertake a detailed Traffic Impact Assessment to demonstrate the specific impacts and appropriate infrastructure response.

Traffic Impact Assessments will continue to be undertaken as part of ongoing development in the area, potentially leading to additional traffic upgrades.

Traffic impact assessments as part of the development application process

City Plan requires a development capable of having a significant adverse impact on the external transport system or the adjacent community, including land uses with high trip-end densities, to be accompanied by a Traffic Impact Assessment report addressing the transport impacts of the development. This report should be prepared by an experienced traffic engineer who is a Registered Professional Engineer of Queensland (RPEQ).

Traffic and transport advice

The traffic and transport advice service facilitates the provision of advice about any potential significant transport and traffic impacts relevant to Council controlled infrastructure, potential dedications or road widenings, initial on-site operational planning scheme requirements, and streetscape hierarchy requirements.

To request traffic and transport advice, complete the Development Services enquiry online form. As part of the request, a site plan and/or proposal plans should be provided showing all access points and on-site manoeuvring areas. Council will endeavour to provide this advice within 15 working days of fee payment.

Kingsford Smith Drive

Kingsford Smith Drive is a major road corridor linking the CBD to Brisbane Airport, the Port of Brisbane and residential and economic growth areas including Northshore Hamilton and the Australia TradeCoast area. It is already one of Brisbane’s busiest roads and is expected to accommodate approximately 30,000 extra vehicle trips per day by 2031.

Council’s Kingsford Smith Drive upgrade will improve the capacity of the road to meet the future needs of the transport network. It will reduce traffic congestion along the corridor and improve local amenity and access for all road users, including cyclists, pedestrians and public transport users.

The upgrade will offer significant advantages to bus operations by increasing capacity on the road and incorporating indented bus bays into the design.

This also allows for a new high-frequency bus service from Northshore Hamilton.

In addition, the upgrade will deliver significantly improved pedestrian and cycle facilities, with seven kilometres of new and improved pedestrian and cycle paths providing active transport options for both existing residents and the developing Northshore Precinct.

Bulimba Barracks Master Plan

Council, with support from the Queensland Government, led a master planning exercise to guide development of the Bulimba Barracks. The master plan was translated into amendments to the Bulimba district neighbourhood plan, which will guide future development on matters such as preferred land use mix, building height and type, heritage, flooding, parkland, road network, pedestrian and bike connections, use of the riverfront and any necessary infrastructure upgrades.

Throughout August and October 2015, Council engaged the local community to gather information that was then used by Council and the Queensland Government to draft and finalise the Bulimba Barracks Master Plan. Consultation with local residents revealed traffic congestion as a key concern.

To mitigate concerns, Council developed a tailored traffic model for the master plan and tested different scenarios to be certain about the broader network and local traffic impacts of the proposed development. Key intersections were analysed prior to and during the development of the master plan. This recommendation, coupled with the results of Council’s traffic modelling and intersection analyses, informed the road upgrades to be undertaken as part of the future Bulimba Barracks development.

When the eventual developer of the site lodges a development application, an additional detailed Traffic Impact Assessment will be required using Council’s model to demonstrate the specific impacts and appropriate infrastructure response.

More information

For more information visit Council's website or phone 07 3403 8888.

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