equanimity.blog

Why Coopers Plains will regret the elevated intersection that’s coming at the Boundary Road rail crossing

Raising the intersection with Orange Grove Road will drive a stake through the heart of the Coopers Plains neighbourhood area.

Locals know only too well that during peak hour, southbound traffic banks up at the end of Orange Grove Road as trains prevent a right hand turn onto Boundary Road. They wanted a solution, but the one they’re getting will increase traffic through their neighbourhood.

In a rushed consultation process, they have fallen prey to ‘bigger is better’, probably thinking there is nothing they can do about endless growth.

TMR (Transport and Main Roads) has led this tunnel-vision on traffic flow. Consequently, we have a plan that puts through-traffic before the livability of our own locality.

Our neighbourhood

How did this quandary come to be?

The level crossing and intersection seems to have become a kind of crucificial cross for Coopers Plains to bear. HERE is a history of how this quandary came to be.

An Overpass!!

The bottleneck at the intersection and the dangerous level crossing has caused frustration not just for local road users, but also those passing through. As unrelenting growth proceeds apace, more traffic than ever tries to turn right off Orange Grove Road onto Boundary Road. In response to this congestion, local residents have been calling for a solution to the problem for more than 50 years. Knowing only perpetual growth and indifferent governments, the cry has always been “An overpass!!”

Finally, all three tiers of government came to the party and threw enough money in the pot for TMR to develop a business case. It presented two plans for an overpass to the community in a series of rushed consultations: one with an elevated intersection with Orange Grove Road and one without.

Local residents have had to spend 90% of their energy on simply getting action to solve the level crossing problem over many years. They’ve only had a chance to spend 10% of their energy considering the details. They chose the elevated intersection, we are told.

Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.

TMR’s plan to build an overpass and elevate the Boundary and Orange Grove Roads intersection is a design for road commuters passing through Coopers Plains. Here’s a video and reaction by local historian Dr Neville Buch. It diminishes and damages the amenity of the area for local residents. It will forever prevent the Coopers Plains shopping area from being an attractive community hub and a quality retail space.

After so many decades, local residents have been rushed into a plan that will kill their community. They deserve a chance to think it through again, before it’s too late.

Tweaks to make Central Coopers Plains better

TMR’s Option 1 provided for a connection under the overpass between Orange Grove Road and Breton Street.

This option would reduce through-traffic on Orange Grove Road in our neighbourhood. Local traffic headed out in a south western direction would exit the neighbourhood via Breton Street and cross the railway line at either Sunnybank station or the overpass on Mains Road, Altandi station.

Between Musgrave Road and Boundary Road, the speed limit should be reduced to 50km/hr.

Traffic through the shopping plaza should enter onto a one-way lane to parking at the rear and an exit near the library. This will free up space for more trees and outdoor seating. The vacant land has been rezoned to neighbourhood area by Council.

The pedestrian island crossing in front of the library is not centrally located. There needs to an another (zebra?) crossing placed 40 meters north between the shops where most people want to cross.

In time, traffic approaching from the north can be diverted along Musgrave Road to Beaudesert Road. Musgrave Road would require a modest two-lane pass over the railway line and an undercutting at the crossing where the line is elevated.