Final weekend for general traffic on Brisbane’s Victoria Bridge, now set to become ‘green’ bridge

abc– More than just a river crossing — Brisbane’s Victoria Bridge has been the stage of protests, remembrance marches and floods.

Washed away and rebuilt several times, the current iteration of Victoria Bridge opened to the public in 1969 and remains central to ferrying Brisbane’s citizens in and out of the CBD.

But its days as a general vehicular bridge are nearly over — the Brisbane City Council (BCC) will close it to all general traffic from 8:00pm tomorrow.

Changes at the intersection of William Street, North Quay and Victoria Bridge, and the intersection of Melbourne and Grey streets will redirect general traffic away from the bridge.

The council said general traffic included all non-public-transport vehicles, including private cars, motorcycles, commercial coaches, taxis and rideshare vehicles.

The council said the closure prioritises ‘green’ transport — with buses, pedestrians and cyclists still able to use the bridge with access on either side of the bridge.

The bridge will still carry buses in the busway lanes and emergency services vehicles can use the bus lanes if necessary.

The council said Victoria Bridge would be converted into three bus lanes and one lane will become a two-way bike lane, which could also be used by electric scooters.

The council said it had been planning to close the Victoria Bridge to general traffic since early 2016.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the decision to close the Victoria Bridge to general traffic was central to the council’s plan to ease congestion on the existing bus network and to make way for a new Brisbane Metro bus network.

“What we’re doing is making sure that those forms of public and active transport get priority, consistent with the plan we announced five years ago,” Cr Schrinner said.

“We also understand that public transport, motor vehicles, couriers, pedestrians and cyclists need to continue moving through the area … and we will be doing our absolute best to ensure that is facilitated.”

Cr Schrinner said Victoria Bridge already carried significantly less vehicular traffic than the city’s other river crossings and their modelling suggested the majority of motorists would opt to cross at the William Jolly bridge instead.

“We’re expecting up to 70 per cent of vehicles that currently travel on Victoria Bridge to go via William Jolly Bridge,” he said.

“Victoria Bridge takes up to 10,000 vehicles a day, but around 20,000 pedestrians and cyclists and what we’re doing is making sure those forms of transport get priority.”

Residents with a registered vehicle in the 4101 postcode, including West End, South Brisbane and Highgate Hill, would all receive a one-off $100 rebate to account for tolls on the Go-Between bridge for 2021.

That bridge currently costs $3.29 for a car, $1.65 for a motorcycle, and starts at $4.94 for commercial vehicles.

RACQ spokeswoman Lauren Ritchie said the advocacy group was concerned motorists would be funnelled onto the toll bridge.

“We need to make sure that there is proper signage for motorists so that they know in plenty of time whether they’re going to go onto the William Jolly bridge — a free bridge — or if they’ll be forced, inadvertently, onto a tolled bridge,” Ms Ritchie said.

“We’d like to see that [rebate] extended to all residents.

“The Go-Between Bridge is a dud — it is not well-utilised — so why not incentivise people to use this bridge and understand how it might actually improve their journey on a regular basis?”

Motorists warned to expect delays

The BCC has warned motorists that delays of up to 20 minutes could occur in peak hour as people adjusted to new routes into the city.

Cr Schrinner said that was the worst-case scenario and delays were expected to be significantly less than that.

“The more people know about it … the more we can reduce those delays,” he said.

“We’re expecting on an ongoing basis, a delay of only several minutes — the 20 minutes is a prediction based on that initial period as people are changing their behaviours.”

Councillor for the Gabba ward, Jonathon Sri, said the Greens had lobbied council for the additional bike lane and he welcomed the conversion of the bridge.

“Anyone who has seen all the buses queuing up along Victoria Bridge in peak hour will understand how important this is,” Cr Sri said.

“The bridge at the moment simply isn’t able to carry enough public transport vehicles to cater to demand.”