Don’t let BAC ban pedestrians on Dryandra Rd.

Our petition to the Federal House of Representatives was presented on Monday 22 April 2017.  Now the Minister for Transport will consider making  Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) abide by their own planning documents and build safe bicycle and pedestrian connections to key airport precincts including the General Aviation Precinct on Dryandra Rd. 

The issue: The Brisbane Airport Corporation plans to construct a taxiway underpass on Dryandra Rd at Brisbane Airport as part of the New Parallel Runway project.  Currently people walk and cycle along Dryandra Rd to access the workplaces at the General Aviation precinct. Many FIFO mining workers, pilots and crew choose to walk the short 15 minutes walk between General Aviation precinct and the Domestic Terminal to transfer between flights.

 Brisbane Airport Corporation has advised us that plans for the proposed underpass on Dryandra Rd at Brisbane Airport will not include pedestrian and cycle facilities. The BAC advised us that pedestrians will be prohibited from using Dryandra underpass and there will be no bicycle lanes, however bicycles may still use the road.

 

We are very concerned with the impending loss of pedestrian access to the General Aviation precinct at Brisbane Airport. We believe this is a backward step for active transport, the health of workers, as well as accessibility and connectivity at the Brisbane Airport. Whilst we are pleased people on bicycles will still be allowed to use the road, we would prefer a bicycle lane or separated pathway. Many cyclists say sharing the road with heavy vehicles is a disincentive to ride a bicycle to work and the recent tragic death of a fellow cyclist in Melbourne show that this fear is justified.

 Airport BUG wrote to ask  Brisbane Airport Corporation to build an underpass which includes facilities for people who walk and ride bicycles.  Incorporating active transport into the underpass aligns with the 2014 Brisbane Airport Master Plan which lists active transport initiatives for the next five years as:  ‘Expand the active transport network across the airport’ and ‘Improve footpaths, aiming to improve pedestrian connectivity between key precincts’ (ch 12. pages 262 and 269).

Brisbane Airport could construct a similar underpass to the one at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam (Schiphol owns a fifth of Brisbane Airport). The Schiphol Airport underpass (pictured below) has been designed with separated bicycle and pedestrian facilities. Similar taxiway underpasses which cater for people walking and cycling may be found at Frankfurt,  Manchester and Guangzhou airport in China to name a few.

 

Airport BUG has written to Federal Minister responsible Infrastructure and Transport, The Hon Darren Chester MP.  We have asked Minister Chester to please ensure Brisbane Airport Corporation maintains pedestrian access and safe bicycle access on Dryandra Rd at Brisbane Airport.