Coopers Plains Rail Level Crossing Flyover Begins

In May, construction will begin on the long-awaited overpass.

The flyover at the corner of Boundary Road and Orange Grove Road will mean no more waiting for the boom gates to cross the train track.

Residents have been calling for it for literally two generations. While many rail and road intersection solutions have been implemented on the north side of Brisbane River, this one lagged a long way behind, in what looks like a case of city Council serving its LNP support base first. Finally, we’re getting some action on the southside.

A couple of years ago, community consultations were held by Transport & Main Roads, offering two choices. Option 1 was a bridge over both the rail line and Orange Grove Road, which maintained the connection to Breton Street. Option 2 was a bridge with Orange Grove Road elevated as a T-intersection with Boundary Road. Option 2 is the larger, more complex and expensive of the two designs. The Minister for TMR, Brent Mickelberg, MP says over 65% of respondents preferred the convenience of Option 2, whereas only 20% preferred Option 1. Of the rest, 9% had no opinion and 6% disliked both options. Information on respondents’ place of residence is not available, but anecdotally, the majority were local people. Clearly the community decided that bigger is better.

Boundary Road carries more than 18,000 vehicles per day and is a key east-west link between Archerfield and the Gateway and Pacific Motorways. Aside from road traffic, the rail level crossing also services about 202 scheduled trains on the Gold Coast line.

Upgrading the Boundary Road rail level crossing will unlock congestion and improve safety, while also preparing the crossing to meet growing demand on the road and rail networks.

_{Brent Mickelberg, Minister for TMR (11 February, 2025, correspondence)}

The elevated intersection will give local and regional traffic access from Orange Grove Road to Beenleigh Road and Boundary Road westward. The Village will be spared some local traffic that is unwilling to loop onto Troughton Road.

Construction on Option 2 (see image above) begins in May or June.

When construction is completed in about 4 years, we will see the consequences of our choice.

What We Will Forego

Frustration with the wait has been palpable. However, will it be a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’?

Boundary Road will be interrupted by two signalized intersections (Orange Grove Road and Augstein Street). North/south traffic will have to get on and off Boundary Road instead of being able to drive under it.

Joyce Street residents will have a ‘half-moon’ intersection to get on and off a busier-than-otherwise Orange Grove Road. Say goodbye to the simple T-intersection

Pedestrians and other active transport users wishing to cross Orange Grove Road will have to use the overpass or go north to the crossing at The Village.

The design of Option 2 prioritizes vehicles over foot traffic. In doing so, we will have a less walkable, human-scale neighbourhood. Be ready to face big concrete walls.

SAYONARA NEIGHBOURLY HUB

However, the biggest impact will be the increase in traffic on Orange Grove Road through the Coopers Plains neighbourhood hub of shops.

Near Musgrave Road, the Coopers Plains shops will be divided by a busier-than-ever Orange Grove Road. This is unfortunate because it will be more dangerous for pedestrians to access shops on both sides of the road. From Musgrave Road to Boundary Road there are many facilities residents of all ages use, such as the library, medical centres, child care centres, the state school, numerous churches, and the neighbourhood centre. In practice, the road is two lanes and yet is classified as an arterial road, which is one level down from a motorway. It is very unfortunate that nobody has advocated for the neighbourhood and had the foresight to divert traffic onto Troughton Road via Kessels and Musgrave Roads.

Orange Grove Road became something of a north/south arterial road connecting Tarragindi to Beenleigh when Toohey Road was cut through the forest in the 1950s. From Toohey Road to Kessels Road it widens and narrows from four to two lanes repeatedly and the whole stretch is classified ‘arterial’. However, between Musgrave and Boundary Road, it is comparable to Lillian Avenue in Salisbury; old and populated with community facilities. Lillian Avenue is 50 kl/hr. Orange Grove Road is 60 kl/hr. Musgrave Road is comparable to Henson Road in Salisbury; residential and both roads are 60 kl/hr. However, Musgrave Road is classified as a ‘neighbourhood’ road, which is a level below ‘district’, that Henson Road is. Musgrave Road should be a ‘district’ road.

I organized a petition to ‘traffic calm‘ the area. 70 people signed it. The results will come out soon (stay tuned to this blog by subscribing below).

TALK ABOUT LACK OF FORESIGHT

On the corner of Breton Street and Boundary Road a new house was built a year ago. This will have to be demolished to make way for the overpass. Somehow, prudence is not a trait the owner, Council or TMR possess. Avoiding waste is not included in Local and State government coordination goals. Whoever built the house had little concern for the future and/or little interest in research.

Approval to build this house was sought and given through standard Brisbane City Council building approval processes. As it was built on private property, this process could not be stopped by the team delivering the BRRLCR project on behalf of TMR.

TMR correspondence. 30 January, 2025

To be fair to TMR, it seems they were powerless to stop it. Council probably approved it to respect private property owners’ rights. But the owner, it is rumoured, received government funding to provide welfare services. I can only conclude the applicant decided it was worth it anyway. An atrocious example of wasting taxpayer money (justified perhaps because it’ll serve disadvantaged people for 12 months?). Me thinks this is why socialism failed; people see taxes as government money, not ‘everyone’s’ money!

In my own street, someone bought a house intending to subdivide the block and develop it. They didn’t do enough research before purchasing to find out it was ineligible for sub-division.

Growing the built environment goes hand in hand with haste, it seems.

Did we decide to go for a big overpass because we all know (or think) growth is inevitable and unstoppable?

A little prudence would go long way.