there is huggggge traiffic at city today due cracked at the riverside expressway, ann st ramp.

shes gonna collapse

What do you mean the bank is out of money!

Yeah i drove over the crack this arvo.

There's some pig there slowing everyone down to 20km/hour when it's not even necessary.

http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~boldajis/images/riverside.jpg

http://matt.carter.name/trafficwatch/

Heavy ...

yeah, gateway toll is closed u can go tho for free

Learn English - English Spelling Guide - How to improve your spelling

Oh the things that happen to you when you drop out of school in grade 7

Don't even get me started on the s*** I had to go through this afternoon due to this.....

Astro don't give him a hard time, there is a reason.

zomg, astros noob is all hanging out there

Looks like an early morning blast down the Western Freeway and then across the Logan Motorway for the rest of the week for me. This evening was traumatic. I know West End quite well though and took every shortcut to avoid queuing, including burning through a few blocks of hotel parking. This incident seriously highlights Brisbane's lack of ring roads - you simply cannot have so much traffic relying on a single route. People who do not need to stop at the CBD should not have to pass through it.

i think they said on the news before that its being indefinitely closed down?

what exactly happened, and how?

PARTS of Brisbane's main CBD expressway, built by Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen's Government three decades ago, have been closed after a crack in an on-ramp sparked fears it could collapse.

Brisbane traffic was thrown into chaos today after officials found a two-metre-long hairline crack in the Riverside Expressway's Ann Street on-ramp.

Sections of the expressway running along the Brisbane River are expected to remain closed for several days.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20598155-2,00.html

This incident seriously highlights Brisbane's lack of ring roads - you simply cannot have so much traffic relying on a single route. People who do not need to stop at the CBD should not have to pass through it.

Try telling that to a state government who has negelected infrustructure for the last 8 years! At least Newman is trying to do something about it. Damn labour councilors trying to block the hale street bridge. f***ING MORONS... We need at least another 2 bridges across the river to cope with the bigger population.

What alot of people forget is the world runs on cars and trucks etc. PPL need to get to work, cargo/freight needs to get from A to B quickly and cheaply. Simple as that. Not eveyone can take the bus or train, and cargo can't be delivered via a bus!

For example, if i took the bus to work it takes close on 1 hr 40 mins(2 buses). By car it take 20 mins. By train it takes 50mins + 10mins to drive to train station...
What's the better option i wonder???!?!?!?!

last edited by Boofe at 21:54:48 17/Oct/06

yeh it was gay, left uni at 5ish got home at 9ish

mainly cos instead of sitting in traffic like a fag for hours i went to indro and had something to eat/saw a movie then had a hasslefree run home

suckas

Hurry up Gateway #2 !!

My car was in for a major service, car was scheduled to be ready at 4:30 - 5:00pm
Had to meet old boss (several years ago) in city to go over new contract (since being made redundant on fri) over dinner an general chit chat

- all good.

get call at 3:30 that a couple of mechanics were down for the day an that they didn't get round to working on my car as yet and were wondering if it would be ok if they kept it for the night to finish the work in time for me to pick p in the morning, end price would reflect inconvenience
Had to be back home to meet some other commitments around 9ish, he's offered to give us a lift back when he has his car again once his missus gets home at 9

- k, still cool

Running late, decide to grab cab into city
Cab driver says it's a bit congested due to SE Freeway stuff etc

- kay, cool, not a prob

Divert cab to Garden City to catch bus
Bus stops in tunnel between Gabba and Southbank - no ones allowed to get out cept at designated spot.
Buses nose to tail as far as I could see (100m in either direction)

k.. be cool

Call old boss, explain...
He's like "I'll wait for a bit, keep me posted"
Phone beeps with "told you you should have recharged me motherf***er"

- k, this can still be salvaged

Overhear on bus while parked that everything has gone to s*** an they are bring inspectors in so that buses can make three point turns an return passengers out of city

- stay cool, it'll all be ok

best part of hour sitting in tunnel a couple of hundred metres or so from southbank, call old boss with massive phone beeping increasingly faster

- /me thinking "you have to be kidding me".....

Get through, we cancel an try to reschedule to meet his busy style etc..

- cool

Finally get off bus, wait at train for almost 30 minutes for carriage where I didn't have to imitate something from India

- patience beginning to slide

Get of train

- k, s'all good, use the last of my phone to call mates an have em pick us up

Mate promptly says "no probs man, seeya in a bit" *hangs up to conserver phone*
30 secs later, phone rings...

"You aren't going to believe this, battery is flat in my f***ing car...."

- /me shakes head numbly thinking "actually, I can"

Mate calls us a taxi

- Sweet, finally....

30 minutes.... no cab
40 minutes, phone is dead

- crap, still, to be expected... sokay, public phone on station

yeah right...
of course, it's full an only accepting "card calls only"
I possibly *sighed* at possibly a rather irritably high decibel level which triggered some secret code of the station operators kind of like the reverse of "open sesame" cause all their windows slammed shut.

- Thanks guys, I'm fine, I'll just wander off in that direction cya's

pretty sure I heard the bolts slide into place at that...
So, I then begin walk home of some 9km trying to flag a cab down with no success


I detest walking home when I'm sober.. It's just not as much fun

For example, if i took the bus to work it takes close on 1 hr 40 mins(2 buses). By car it take 20 mins. By train it takes 50mins + 10mins to drive to train station...

For me?
Drive: 25min to get into the city + 30min (or more) waiting for a Car Park @ QUT.
Bus: 10min Drive to 8 Miles Plains Bus Stop, 20min Bus Ride to Mater Hill, 5min walk to QUT.

Bus is actually cheaper with student Pass, less Parking and Car fuel.

What we need is both, and more people to use a public Transport system that does work.

Hurry up Gateway #2 !!

For some of us the Gateway is not an option.

I live at Yeronga, and while I don't drive to work each day (trains ftw), for me to get to the northside I have to go through either the Riverside Expressway or the Story Bridge. With the expressway closures the last few weekends I've had to go through Sth Brisbane, which is alright when coming from the northside (Hale St -> Coro Drive -> William Jolly), but south to north you have to go up Roma St, etc to the Normanby fiveways and that's just plain nasty.

The Hale St bridge would completely PWN from here, in both directions.

Try telling that to a state government who has negelected infrustructure for the last 8 years!

I totally agree with this. I think the state of our water supply is also a direct result of little or no infrastructure upgrades in the last few decades, despite the massive insurgence of people moving here from interstate.

man do we need a better train system in this town. but that means tunnelling and it takes ages to get even one tunnel going

my father is a bus driver, from what i understand its caused them major pain in the ass as alot of bus routes now need to be diverted through other areas thus adding 20minutes on to trips.

personally it doesnt effect me the slightest, i work at south brisbane on melbourne street.

ps. it takes me 30mins to get to work on a bus and it would take me 20minutes in a car. :D

buses rock.

I waited in the valley for a bus into the city for 40 mins before I decided to take at train, took me 2 hours to get home :(

Drive: 25min to get into the city + 30min (or more) waiting for a Car Park @ QUT.
Bus: 10min Drive to 8 Miles Plains Bus Stop, 20min Bus Ride to Mater Hill, 5min walk to QUT

For me parking isn't a problem. My work pays for my reserved car spot. So im lucky to that extent.
However, i can see how puhblic transport is a good option for you.

ring roads are the bomb! They should just bite the bullet and start building a ring road system. If it means Beattie has to polish Costello's knob... then so be it.

Beattie polishes plenty of nobs but mostly Heather's.

f*** that sucks! :(

Glad i live in valley and just over storey bridge.
Takes me 40-45 min to power walk to uni. No delays for me :)

In my opinion there is little need for private vehicles in the CBD. Heavy tarrifs on any private vehicle in the CBD. Increase parking at train and bus stations.
If people reaaally want to drive into the CBD because they too meh to catch a train or bus they can pay for it :D

Ahh imagine the traffic bliss then :D

Me,

6pm, left park road at milton, onto coro.. traffic report on radio was saying banked up way back to taringa.

all traffic going south being diverted up hale st. f***!

As im trying to get to carindale i had to take the hospital exit off the inner city bypass, the exit lane was banked up a good 500m. - -i get here 15 mins into the trip which usually would take 2mins if i was travelling that way.

30 mins later after being in the exit line i finally get to the lights turning right into lutwytch rd to head over story bridge.. f***ing nightmare.

i decided to f*** off the story bride idea so i took a smartass right turn at the party works/naughty but nice corner (cant remember st name) but its the one that goes thru spring hill and connects onto little edward and then eventually edward st.

Good flowing traffic here - it seemed the heart of the cbd was normal - took 5 mins from turning right off lutwytch rd to get to botanical gardens at qut - took that exit onto the express way.

had to drop in2 a mates place who lives on the corner of allen/vulture st.. stayed there for a good 2 hours in perfect view on the balcony watching all the poor souls in the northbound lanes of the expressway which looked like a massive car park HAH.

got home 9:30..

In my opinion there is little need for private vehicles in the CBD. Heavy tarrifs on any private vehicle in the CBD. Increase parking at train and bus stations.
If people reaaally want to drive into the CBD because they too meh to catch a train or bus they can pay for it :D

If i didn't have to go through the city to get to toowong from the southside, hence why we need more bridges/ring roads.

P.S. your comment doesn't help solve any traffic problems...

i think the bigger questions we should be asking ourselves are

1) if they knew about the hairline crack the night before, why did they allow traffic to use the expressway all day and only decide to shut it at 5pm.

2) if they knew about the hairline crack the night before, and the possibility of shutting down the expressway existed, you should have some management plan in place, not be issuing announcements at 5.30pm after people have already got in their cars

3) if the expressway needs to be closed for a .4mm crack what kind of tolerances are built into the expressway in terms of safety? like if all it takes is a .4mm wide crack to shut down an expressway

4) isnt it very coincidental all of this hairline crack being found is occuring at the very time they are conducting the first major roadworks in the expressway in 30 years. was the crack really "found overnight" possibly caused by some of the roadwork activities? it seems very coincidental the very night we are doing road works in 30 years we find a crack in the bridge? or was it there for god knows how long and we just say we found it overnight because its the first time we have shut down the entire thing for so long?

in any case, its bulls*** sending out a notice at 5.30pm and shutting down a road that carries 150,000 vehicles with absolutely no forethought or notice whatsoever, even though they knew about the issue long before 5.30pm.. typical of these departments and council though, just make it up as you go along..


NOTE THE TIME AND DATE ON THE ANNOUNCEMENT

From: statements@qld.gov.au [mailto:statements@qld.gov.au]
Sent: Tuesday, 17 October 2006 5:29 PM
Subject: Closure of sections of the Riverside Expressway and some onramps


Minister for Transport and Main Roads
The Honourable Paul Lucas
17/10/2006
Closure of sections of the Riverside Expressway and some onramps


Minister for Transport and Main Roads Paul Lucas today said the Ann St onramp to the Riverside Expressway and sections of the road underneath would be closed as a precautionary measure following the discovery of a hairline crack in the ramp's decking.

Mr Lucas said the sections of road were being closed this afternoon following the discovery of a hairline crack of around 0.4mm and approximately 2m long in the bridge decking this morning. Main Roads advised that the crack had appeared in the bridge overnight.

Mr Lucas said bridge specialists from Main Roads had advised the onramp should be closed following the discovery of the crack late this morning.

"I'd like to make it clear that this is a precautionary closure," Mr Lucas said.

"While Main Roads has advised me that there is an extremely low chance of the Ann St onramp collapsing, I'm not willing to take any chances whatsoever," Mr Lucas said.

"For that reason, we are closing the Ann St onramp and the sections of Expressway beneath it. It will also affect the section of North Quay beneath the Alice St onramp, and the pedestrian/bikeway which would also be closed.

"At this stage the Main Roads bridge specialists are working to identify what may have caused the crack," Mr Lucas said.

Mr Lucas said Main Roads had already installed special electronic monitoring equipment on the ramp so they had early notice of any changes or movements in the crack.

Mr Lucas said Main Roads had already begun discussing traffic diversions with Brisbane City Council and police.

Mr Lucas said the measures would cause major disruptions to CBD traffic.

"I apologise for the disruption this will cause," Mr Lucas said.

"I would much rather have inconvenience to traffic as a result of checking this to the Nth degree rather than take any risks, even if the advice says any potential failure is extremely low.

Mr Lucas said the closures would cause major disruption to CBD traffic and urged people to consider using public transport.

Mr Lucas said Main Roads and Queensland Transport would put in a number of measures to help ease traffic pressure.

"There will be no toll for any vehicle on the GatewayBridge during peak hour while these diversions are in place," Mr Lucas said.

"To help ease traffic in the city, between 6am to 10am, and 4pm to 7pm there will be no toll for vehicles on the GatewayBridge."

Mr Lucas said bus lanes and T3 lanes would be opened to general traffic.

"This does not include the dedicated South East and Inner Northern busways."

"I'd also ask employers to consider staggered start times for CBD workers where possible."


Media inquiries: Robert Hoge 3237 1942, 0419 757 868




Closures and detours

Traffic heading southbound out of the city:

Coronation Drive heading southbound will be closed just before WilliamJollyBridge. All traffic will be diverted by the "City" exit up to North Quay.

North Quay will be closed to traffic heading southbound at intersection with Saul St (opposite WilliamJollyBridge).

Heading south down Countess St to head south, will have to go straight ahead to WilliamJollyBridge.

Makerston Street, Herschel Street and Tank Street will all be closed off at intersection with North Quay.

Current closure of Ann and George Street will remain in place.

Northbound traffic:

Riverside Expressway closed off at Elizabeth St, as per last week. Traffic diverted off at Elizabeth Street.

Alice Street onramp northbound will also be closed.

Motorists who don't need to go into the city are advised to take StoryBridge or WilliamJollyBridge. If heading through Brisbane, use Gateway Motorway and stay completely out of city.

To avoid city, use Inner City Bypass and Hale St to take motorists around the city.

3) if the expressway needs to be closed for a .4mm crack what kind of tolerances are built into the expressway in terms of safety? like if all it takes is a .4mm wide crack to shut down an expressway

4mm crack that was 2 meters long, and since we are talking about a three dimentional object here, we are still missing the depth, so to say JUST a 4mm crack is silly.

meh

"I would much rather have inconvenience to traffic as a result of checking this to the Nth degree rather than take any risks, even if the advice says any potential failure is extremely low.

Makes sense to me

Beattie polishes plenty of nobs but mostly Heather's.

this would never have happened under a coaltion government!!!

hahah

30 minutes from a side street off Park Rd to go down Cribb, onto Milton, onto ICB and I left at 6pm last night.

From there it was smooth sailing though all the way home.

Took me 1 hour to get home from the middle of the city leaving at 5pm yesterday. I did pretty damn well driving considering how other people are saying how long it took.

I drove up adelaide st over to southbank, straight onto grey street (skipped all the city traffic) then down milton road which wasnt that bad at all going out as it normally is. Then when I hit moggil road at toowong I went more back street to indooroopilly. Took only an extra 40 minutes, but sure beat sitting in traffic.

4mm crack that was 2 meters long, and since we are talking about a three dimentional object here, we are still missing the depth, so to say JUST a 4mm crack is silly.

especially when it's a 0.4mm crack

Is there still problems with it? I can't find any up to date info about it? What would be the best time to leave today... lol took me 1hour 1/2 this morning to get from Everton Park to Coorparoo

In my opinion there is little need for private vehicles in the CBD. Heavy tarrifs on any private vehicle in the CBD. Increase parking at train and bus stations.
If people reaaally want to drive into the CBD because they too meh to catch a train or bus they can pay for it :D

I agree. The only people who NEED to drive in the CBD are couriers and delivery trucks and the other service people. Huge tarrifs on people driving in the CBD would be fantastic. Some people wouldn't be seen dead on public transport, those kinds of people would pay the tarrif too so it would be win win. Less people driving in the CBD and more cash being fleeced from retards who insist on driving into the city rather than using public transport.

That said...some people need too because of a lack of public transport. Collateral damage I say :)

especially when it's a 0.4mm crack

He also missed the part where they said it appeared overnight, so it could have still been growing.

0.4mm 4mm. my point was this. it wasnt serious enough for them to shut the expressway down immediately. they discovered it overnight, and yet they were quite happy to let heavy traffic flow back and forth all day without concern. it was only at 5-5.30pm they decided to shut it down and send a last minute announcement. thats just bad form. and yet, in the announcement, there is no updated details on the crack, its just as it was discovered the night before according to the main roads announcement. they continually refer to shutting down the expressway and the crack that was discovered the night before, glossing over the fact they let traffic use the expressway ALL DAY.. wonder why that is..

i also think its a bit rough to slap heavy tarrifs on those that use private vehicles when for example, you can live at karana downs in the brisbane city council and yet the nearest bus stop is a good 15 minutes away, the nearest train is a good 25 minutes.. thats in the brisbane city council itself.. now consider those who live in the outer suburbs other councils/shires and semi rural areas, what chance do they have?? if you have access to public transport and you continue to drive, so be it, but for many of us, there just simply isnt any public transport within a reasonable distance.. i would use public transport if it was available, but the fact of the matter is that public transport in brisbane is s***house.. we're in brisbane, queensland, touting ourselves the sunshine state and the best beaches in the world, and yet i wonder how many of the buses still dont have air conditioning, while our wonderful council expects us to go to work beside 50 other sweaty stinky people and sit in traffic absorbing heat with no air flow whatsoever..

i also think its a bit rough to slap heavy tarrifs on those that use private vehicles when for example, you can live at karana downs in the brisbane city council and yet the nearest bus stop is a good 15 minutes away, the nearest train is a good 25 minutes.....

They were talking about using private vehicles in the CBD only. i.e. you could drive to the train station then get the train into the city and not incur the tarrif.

Can anyone explain why the first part of North Quay is closed? Why can't they leave it open up to Turbot St? That's just absurd. I understand not allowing traffic to go underneath the Ann St on-ramp, but North Quay to Turbot has nothing to do with the cracks in the on-ramp.

They were talking about using private vehicles in the CBD only. i.e. you could drive to the train station then get the train into the city and not incur the tarrif.

This seems reasonable.

We've got Congestion charging over here in london...

http://www.cclondon.com/Whatis.shtml

quite a good system i think.. there isn't *that* much traffic in the city.. motorways.. well thats another story... but in general it isn't that hard to get around the place, getting lost is the only real hindrance! hehe

A ringroad system doesn't really work well in a city like Brisbane where you have the city spread up and down the coast so heavily, plus there's the whole mountains thing and river thing. Would've been a good idea about 30 years ago but we all know who to blame for decisions back then.

What we really need is a more comprehensive public transport system. Nothing will ever replace cars completely but people could probably be convinced to use some sort of park and ride system if the council actually had better transport services.

Can anyone explain why the first part of North Quay is closed? Why can't they leave it open up to Turbot St? That's just absurd. I understand not allowing traffic to go underneath the Ann St on-ramp, but North Quay to Turbot has nothing to do with the cracks in the on-ramp.

f***ing stupid decision whoever did that. Cos it also cuts access to the bridge to westend off if ur coming from coro drive. morons.