We should be doing all we can to encourage people to cycle - it reduces traffic and emissions, as well as being good for your health. When speaking with westsiders I’ve learnt that there are lots of people who’d love to cycle to work, school, or uni, but don’t feel safe to ride.
Without separated bike lanes, cyclists are braving dangerous road traffic or are being forced onto the footpath with pedestrians.
Safe, physically protected bike lanes on major roads make cycling a real option.
That’s why I’m pushing for Council and the State Government to work together to complete the Indooroopilly Bikeway. This would involve separated bike lanes linking the Indooroopilly Riverwalk with the St Lucia Esplanade Bikeway via Lambert Rd.
This route is one of the biggest cycling “black holes” on the westside. Lambert Rd is a busy road that provides access to a lot of essential services. Completing the Indooroopilly bikeway would make it easy to ride to:
- UQ
- Schools around Lambert Rd including Indooroopilly ISHS, Brigidine College, Holy Family and St Peters Lutheran College
- Indooroopilly train station and Indooroopilly Shopping Centre
- Fig Tree Pocket and Ambrose Treacy College
Importantly, a bikeway would mean the 5,600 students and their families at the four schools around Lambert Rd would have the option to ride, helping to reduce the drop-off and pick-up peak hour traffic. I started campaigning for the bikeway as a result of my Lambert Rd School Transport Survey.
To make it happen, we need to show Council and the State government that the community support this project. You can let the Lord Mayor and Transport Minister Bailey know using the form on this site.
Please share this page with your friends and neighbours!
Our campaign is already working - LNP Council's bikeway proposal
A bikeway on Lambert Rd has been in Council’s long-term plans for years, but since getting an influx of emails from residents they've started taking notice. In March 2023, after years of inaction, Cr James Mackay held a bikeway roundtable with local stakeholders, including local schools and residents about getting bike lanes on Lambert Rd. The meeting is a good sign, but unfortunately it became clear there that Council is only proposing bike lanes from the Riverwalk to Fairley St, with no connection to UQ or St Peters. Council’s proposal would also mean Indooroopilly State High kids are still forced to ride on the footpath or the road for part of their journey.
Cr Mackay has hinted that Council won't do detailed design or construction work without a State Government cycling grant. That means Council's absolute best case scenario sees us waiting for two annual grants rounds (June 2024 for design funding and June 2025 for construction funding) before anything gets built. Based on their slow progress designing the nearby Witton Rd bikeway, I'd say 2026 is more likely.
In order to get a bikeway before 2026, Council needs to step up and begin the concept design for this project now themselves, then apply for a construction grant from the State Government in December 2023. This way, we could have a completed bikeway by late 2024 or early/mid 2025, instead of waiting another year or more for designs and three years for a completed project (see estimated timeline below).
Council finally moving on this issue after years of inaction shows that the community pressure is working, but we need to keep it up. We need to tell Council to start work now to fully complete the Indooroopilly bikeway, all the way from the Riverwalk to St Lucia Esplanade bikeway.
What would a cycling network for the West Side look like?
I've put together a map of the connections between the existing and proposed cycling projects on the west side, including our proposed completion of the Indooroopilly bikeway. This is in no way a complete outline of all cycling routes, but it shows how the Indooroopilly bikeway could connect to other bikeways across the West Side. This map also highlights how the completion of the Indooroopilly bikeway opens up the possibility of cycling to work, school, or uni for so many Westsiders.
