No Traffic Calming For Orange Grove Road
Residents’ Petition Fails
Coopers Plains’ shopping and neighbourhood precinct has an arterial road running through it. Many residents would like to see it become more pedestrian-friendly.
Almost a year ago, 70 residents signed a traffic calming petition:
City Council has only just finalized its assessment and it does not support any of the requested changes – not even realigning the wheel stops on the angle parking bays.
Brisbane City Council is $6B in debt and has therefore sacked 450 staff. As we all know, it’s been on a construction spending spree. With the Olympics coming, it’s just getting started.
I recently requested a “Local Traffic Only” sign on behalf of my neighbours because cars are rat-running through our street to avoid a signalized intersection. It was rejected on the basis that ‘everyone ignores those signs’ and ‘they’re unenforceable.’ I asked if Council plans to save money by removing these signs across the whole city over time rather than repairing them. No answer.
In the Lewis Hill area of Coopers Plains, a promise to install Plan A0001 is two weeks overdue.
Good Planning
Some shopkeepers and commercial service providers believe a busy Orange Grove Road is good for business. Others believe diverting traffic around the precinct (the way Westfield shopping centres do) would be good, not just for business, but for the local community. Through traffic just wants to get through.
To assist the smooth flow of traffic around Coopers Plain’s neighbourhood hub, Orange Grove Road’s classification should be downgraded from Arterial to Suburban between Musgrave and Boundary Roads. Musgrave Road (between Orange Grove and Troughton Roads) should be upgraded to District. This would see a modest dispersal of traffic on to Musgrave Road and Troughton Road. Another diversion method is to connect the western stretch of Musgrave Road to Beaudesert Road. This would require a small bridge over the suburban rail line.
Coopers Plains Traffic Petition
What We Have To Live With
Orange Grove Road is now entrenched as a stake through the neighbourhood’s heart, connecting to the new crucifix overpass at Boundary Road. Neighbourliness is sacrificed on a cross in the name of progress.
Such a situation comes about because it is the net sum of local sentiment. Some who envisage a people-friendly neighbourhood act on it, while others shrug and say, “That’s progress. What can you do about it?” Some support it and don’t have to do anything because the status quo is to grow the human enterprise. “That’s progress”. Others just mind their own business and in doing so, provide fodder for the status quo. They are the people who walk through the lucrative door the government leaves wide open to them.
In 2021, 52.5% of Coopers Plains were born overseas. 64.2% in Robertson and 60.4% in Sunnybank. (OpenStats) The huge influx since then has added significantly to those percentages.
It is no coincidence that those who want a people-friendly neighbourhood have roots going back generations. As citizens of a post-industrial country, they have seen enough progress to know that what’s really important in life is a connection to people and place.
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