Brisbane City Council has released concept designs for two green bridges linking West End with St Lucia and Toowong, which are being built to make it easier to walk and cycle around the city.
Open for public feedback, the concept designs show two quite different styles of pedestrian and cyclist bridges, one with a single 75-metre mast and the other with four gently inclined masts and a spiralling ramp at the landing. The concept designs for both bridges have been prepared by engineering firm GHD with architecture practice GHD Woodhead, landscape architecture practice Lat 27, Wilkinson Eyre (specialist bridge architect) and Cowi (specialist bridge engineer).
The Toowong to West End Green Bridge is envisioned as a curved single-mast cable stay bridge with a length of about 280 metres. It would feature triangular shade clothes along the length of the pedestrian path and a new riverside green space is planned at the Toowong landing. Around the bridge mast there would be a widened pathway, of up to nine metres, with seating and viewing opportunities. This bridge is expected to carry 3900 trips per day by 2031 and 5,300 trips per day by 2041, according to a preliminary business case.
The St Lucia to West End Green Bridge.
The St Lucia to West End Green Bridge would be the longer of the two, measuring around 310 metres. The concept design is for a ground anchored long-span suspension bridge with four masts. It would feature shade clothes across the full width of the main bridge span and there would be rest points with seating and viewing opportunities at each end of the bridge. Connecting St Lucia, the University of Queensland, West End, Highgate Hill and the CBD, this bridge is expected to carry 3,500 trips per day by 2031 and 4,200 trips per day by 2041.
Brisbane mayor Adrian Schrinner said the bridges were import “city-shaping” projects in the lead up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“Together, they will add to our growing green transport network, supporting the vibrant communities of West End, Toowong and St Lucia, as well as the University of Queensland,” he said.
Earlier in 2021, the council finalized the design for the Breakfast Creek green bridge by Cox Architecture and Lat 27 with engineering firm SMEC and appointed Blight Rayner and Aspect Studios to design the Kangaroo Point green bridge.
