Just west of Gympie Road, across from the big Chermside shopping mall, there is a poignant sign. It explains why the nearby section of the Downfall Creek Bikeway is named in memory of Kerry Fien, who was a council bikeway officer.

‘It is an important link between Chermside Hills and Boondall Wetlands bikeways and serves as a fitting tribute to Kerry’s outstanding contribution to Brisbane and its bikeways,’ the sign concludes.

The bikeway ends next to the sign, with no obvious way to get across the many lanes of speeding traffic on Gympie Road, and walk or ride to the mall or any of the extensive bikeways on the other side.

Now the Queensland Government is planning ‘upgrades’ to the intersection of Gympie and Murphy roads, which is right next to the end of the bikeway, and next to Downfall Creek.

But almost unbelievably, the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) has no plan to extend the bikeway under Gympie Road next to the creek, even though part of its project is upgrades to the road bridge, which should make this crossing possible.

This failure will be a disaster for active transport, missing a once in a generation opportunity to create a safe, convenient crossing for the Downfall Creek Bikeway.

Just a few kilometres north of Murphy Road, at Aspley, there is a great example of what could be achieved. The Cabbage Tree Creek bikeway passes under Gympie Road, on a path next to that creek (see our photos). Families, commuters, shoppers, whoever, can walk or ride their bicycles or scooters in complete safety, avoiding the traffic that passes above them.

This is what must happen at Downfall Creek. TMR says in its information about the Murphy Road project that parts of the bridge there are almost 100 years old. So unless TMR’s plans are changed, we’ll probably have to live with a failed ‘upgrade’ for about as long.

At a minimum, the new bridge should be designed and built to accommodate an underpass in the future without requiring Brisbane City Council to replace or upgrade it. But it would be much better if TMR just built the missing bikeway section and got it done.

There are thousands of people on the west side of Gympie Road who would have improved active transport access to the shopping centre and many other destinations. Giving them a chance to walk, cycle or scoot to the shops, playgrounds, playing fields and other destinations would be a much better way of fighting traffic congestion, compared with building yet more roads.

The at grade crossing design included in the current draft plan is incredibly inconvenient and even dangerous for people walking, cycling and scooting. It will force them to press beg buttons and wait three or four times, turning a simple road crossing into a 10-minute obstacle course.

TMR claim their plan will ‘reduce congestion at the intersection, improve traffic flow and safety along this section of Gympie Arterial Road, and improve the reliability of the transport network.” But they haven’t even acknowledged the existence of the Downfall Creek Bikeway and North Brisbane Bikeway on their plan – despite all routes through this intersection being identified as part of the Principal Cycle Network Plan.

Embarrassingly, the proposed intersection design doesn’t meet TMR’s own design standards for pedestrian and cycling facilities at intersections.

Luckily, construction hasn’t started, and there is still time to fix the Murphy Road/Downfall Creek plan.

It would be a fitting tribute to Kerry Fien if TMR and the council could find a way to properly finish the bikeway named after him, by building a safe route under Gympie Road.

If you get a chance, be sure to respond to the TMR survey by 20 August, at:

https://www.yoursay-projects.tmr.qld.gov.au/gympie-murphy-road-intersection-downfall-creek-bridge

But the survey only has room for 600 characters, which isn’t nearly enough to describe how bad TMR’s plan is. So even after the 20 August, keep writing to Transport Minister Mark Bailey, at transportandmainroads@ministerial.qld.gov.au, and to the project team at metropolitanregion@tmr.qld.gov.au, until we’re sure this disastrous design has been fixed.

This map shows the Downfall Creek bikeway ending at the western side of Gympie Road, with only a circuitous connection to the paths on the eastern side.

TMR’s plan for Murphy Road and Downfall Creek, showing ‘Wider bridge structures’, but no plan to connect the Downfall Creek Bikeway.

This shows the end of the Kerry Fien Pathway, where the Downfall Creek Bikeway stops at Gympie Road. Downfall Creek passes under the road next to the trees in the background.