Upgrading of Gap Creek Road
Despite concerns by The Gap Community Association (GCA), and many local residents, it appears that an upgrade and/or sealing of Gap Creek-Dillon Road is now firmly back on the Brisbane City Council’s (BCC) agenda. This follows preparation of a report by the BCC, now being considered by Councillors Geraldine Knapp, Margaret de Witt and Graham Quirk. The report is not being made available to the public.
We see both sides of the Gap Creek-Dillon Road issue. Yes, driving on an unsealed road places more wear and tear on your vehicle, makes your car dirty, driving becomes less comfortable etc; however, it is exactly because of these reasons that drivers are discouraged from using this route. It means The Gap has remained leafy and tranquil in character and has not become a ‘through’ suburb experiencing substantial traffic from nearby suburbs such as Ferny Grove or Kenmore.
Sealing Gap Creek/Dillon Road - which now attracts 2000 vehicles a day - will inevitably attract hoards of new motorists and heavy transport wanting to utilise this route, particularly to travel to/from town during peak hour. It will destroy the amenity of our beautiful suburb and the ‘end of the road’ peace that Gap residents have always enjoyed.
The added danger is that a sealed Gap Creek Road will then become the focus of renewed attention by the State Government, which is now looking at a route for its western bypass. A three-year study is shortly to commence in this regard.
We believe Council should ‘cool off’ on touching Gap Creek/Dillon Roads until the State Government completes its western bypass study. Two things to point out here:
- Last year over 3500 people at The Gap signed a petition arguing that Gap Greek/Dillon Roads should stay as is and not become the basis of the new western bypass.
- At a public meeting at Ashgrove Golf Club in 2004, attended by over 100 people, a straw poll conducted on the night saw 70% of attendees want Gap Creek/Dillon Roads to stay as is, just 10% wanted the route sealed, and 20% wanted the road shut down altogether!
Gap residents are still recovering from five years of traffic chaos from the Waterworks Road widening. To now be faced with the potential for increased traffic flows along Payne, Settlement and Waterworks Roads is just too horrendous to contemplate.
The Gap Community Association will be doing everything in its power to protect the interests of Gap residents on this issue, so stand by for future developments.
Tony Barker
Chair, No Bypass Thru The Gap sub-committee
December 19th, 2006 at 3:07 am
The road in its current state is not only a safety hazard, but also a threat to the “leafy and tranquil” surroundings as the dust, erosion and runoff from it causes significant damage to waterways and the local habitat.
I think the proposal to retain one lane in each direction and restrict the traffic to 50km/h will be enough to deter many drivers.
Think of the reduction in pollution, though, when cars can get to Kenmore without having to take the long route over the Western Freeway.
Even if they did close Gap Creek Road, or never seal it, then people would just use Boscombe Road instead, when it’s linked up. See the proposed Boscombe Road link-up here: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=&ie=UTF8&z=15&ll=-27.466508,152.924623&spn=0.017097,0.029182&om=1
January 17th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
The road at present is not only dangerous but ugly with all the dust covered vegetation. I think that traffic calming islands and bumps would be preferable and may discourage some of the trucks etc from using it. This would definitely be an improvement in terms of appearance and safety.
March 4th, 2007 at 5:07 am
I’ve just taken on mountain bike riding as a hobby and was rather excited about the prospect of trying out some of the dedicated mountain bike tracks that start out at the Gap Creek Reserve.
So I headed out in my car to check the place out, not realising about this section of unsealed road. And all I can say is it is DANGEROUS. Admittedly I own a car strictly set up for the tarmac, but even so…. I could barely safely maintain 40kph letalone the specified 50kph limit which I might add the line of arrogant 4 wheel drives sitting right up my backside was pushing me into doing. The car literally drifted across the badly corrugated road on the downhills and the rear wheels were struggling to maintain traction on the uphills. If I had to suddenly brake I would have ended up over the embankment on my roof.
I think it’s selfish of residents to claim this public road as theirs when we all pay registration to use our roads. And for the $1000 plus dollars in total a year I pay, I expect those roads to be safe.
I headed out on a Saturday and the road was already incredibly busy, so I don’t see the issue, especially if there was a speed restriction put on the road or as mentioned traffic calming measures could be implemented to discourage through traffic.
Anyway, thanks to this dangerous road, short of selling my car for a 4WD, I have no way of taking my mountain bike out to enjoy the tracks.
July 24th, 2007 at 10:38 pm
I have just seen the map at the local Gap village shopping centre for the proposed sealing works for The Gap Creek Rd. It lacks some very important information regarding what works would also be undertaken to make Payne road safe at the small bridge/culvert at Payne Road and Moggill roads. The footpath here is within half a metre of the edge of the roadway…. Additionally there is no information about what would be done to ensure the safety of children attending both Payne Road and The Gap State schools. I see the only viable solution is to do significant upgrades to the current X5 route north/ south and to redevelop the ashgrove to shopping district to create an interchange there.. To come any further west into the mountains is a waste of money. The Gap creek road should be sealed for gas powered city buses ONLY to provide an express service to the city from Kenmore making the trip much more attractive than driving cars into the city via moggill road in kenmore.
August 14th, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Here’s the bigger picture. Brisbane is the fastest growing city in Australia, thus it needs the fastest growing road network in Australia. Changes in the structure of the city are essential and inevitable. To try and challenge this is idiotic. I’m glad to see Brisbane expand. Hopefully one day it will fix its reputation overseas for being the most boring spot on the East coast trip.
August 27th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I live at Ferny Hills and work at Kenmore, as do two other staff members at my work. We all travel Gap Creek Road daily and this road is nothing short of dangerous. I agree the road needs to be sealed but I also believe heavy vehicles need to be restricted. I have seen many close calls where cars have nearly side swiped eachother due to hitting a pot hole and their car drifting across, and these cars where doing the speed limit or less.
October 1st, 2008 at 5:06 pm
With all the calls for being green and saving the environment, the mentality of carving up the bush land with roads and further endangering wildlife is simple crazy. Help preserve the future of the planet by restraining development for development sake PLEASE! Leave Gap Creek as it is or close it permentantly for the future of the everyone including the animals!
October 8th, 2008 at 3:48 am
I have been utilising this throughfare for over thirty years and recent claims that koalas cross the road are rediculous. The only animals I have seen in the last few years are foxes, snakes and birds. The road is dangerous and I value human life over the odd animal. The cost to the community with grading this dangerous road on a fortnightly basis is ridiculous. The cost to the environment is even greater with the dust having choked the vegetation over the years and flowing into our water ways after rain. We all have the right to safer roads to drive on so seal this road now as it should have been done 20years ago.
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Dear Tony,
The Association must present and campaign for a design solution it is happy with,or else traffic will be allowed to grow gradually but steadily, without any real design decision being made (and without anyone being clearly responsible for the eventual large traffic outcome). This is already occuring slowly but surely as the quality of the earth road repairs gradually improves over the years. The dips are being filled, the steep gradients are now less steep and shorter. The acceptability to the average road user is becomming better. Peoples NAVMANS and GOOGLE MAPS routefinder now directs people along Gap Creek Road. I first rode Gap Creek Road on a bicycle about 20 years ago. Quite an experience. I have commuted this route for the last 4 years. I look at the corridor width on Dillon Road, Payne Road and Illowra Street with trepidation. There is width allowed for a 4 lane road here. It will happen unless firm decisions are made otherwise. Many many years ago I prepared a Traffic Noise Assessment for for a subdivision on Dillon Road (I am an acoustic engineer). I wonder what the Ultimate Traffic Volumes are that Council now advises for Dillon Road? For less than $200 you can purchase this data from BCC City Design. The form you need is “Request for Ultimate Traffic Projection City Design”
What about design solutions?
In this day and age technology is relatively cheap. It would actually cost very little in policing if, for example, Gap Creek Road had a signposted limit of 40 km/hr (or 30 or 50 or whatever), and with 10 permanent speed cameras dotted along the route. This is simple cost-effective stuff. At the right speed limit, people will decide to go east of Mt Cootha. The magic of this solution is that once the new speed limit is official, NAVMAN and GOOGLE MAPS will actually take note of the new speed limit and stop directing people this way.
Cheers for now.
Michael Caley
BEng(Mech) MIEAust MAAS RPEQ
March 26th, 2009 at 3:12 am
It seems to me that the balanced solution is to seal the road, but adopt whatever measures will ensure it remains a low-speed forest road. The demand for roads in a growing city can be contained by providing public transport, and putting facilities and services closer to where people live. That doesn’t address all needs but reduces traffic for those who still need to drive.
July 15th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
There are several possible solutions as to what will become of the Gap-Creek road. In the meantime greater care should be taken while traversing this notoriously dangerous road. Cars, trucks and 4WDs are often using use this thoroughfare as their personal rally track. This will eventuate in more tragedy if drivers persist in continuing to cut corners, pass on the gravelled hilltops and fail to give way at the single lane bridge. It is time for drivers to wakeup to the fact there is a large amount of traffic flowing across this thoroughfare and no one driver owns the road.
September 14th, 2009 at 4:29 pm
the only reason people see this raod as dangerous is because they are horrendous drivers. i drive along the road every day to get to work and see no problems whatsoever with how it is at the moment. people need to learn how to drive and get over it!!! if they practised driving on unsealed raods im sure many people would be able to safely negotiate this road
December 17th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Have you seen how they are butchering the trees around Kookaburra St? I wonder if anyone ever realised how awful this “upgrade” was going to be. This is turning a road frequented by wildlife into a heat sink and a thoroughfare that will bring increased traffic and perhaps vandalism too. Time to take some photos of this devastation and put it up on the net. It’s nothing new to see such poor decisions by the Bligh Government. God help the wildlife that already had problems crossing here and poor us (local residents) who already get tailgated by impatient tradies and others along here.
December 18th, 2009 at 3:45 am
Lawrence wrote “The only animals I have seen in the last few years are foxes, snakes and birds.” This is written by someone using Gap Creek Rd as a “throughfare for 30 years”. I live in Gap Creek Rd for under 4 years and have seen large species of lizards (2 huge different types), water dragons (lizards), numerous varieties of snakes, wallabies (coming up to the house), possums, wild bush turkeys, frogs, other native mammals that I haven’t identified (some I saw as road kills but couldn’t stop because of the danger of traffic coming up behind), many types of birds etc. I’m sure there are many animals I have not seen because I haven’t knowingly gone looking for them. Gap Creek Rd passes through an environmentally important area of Brisbane and it is unbelievable to see the holocaust being inflicted on the bushland here near the roadway in the name of the almighty reverence to the car. People living in this area are caring towards the wildlife and bushland and some people are participating in schemes to protect vegetation (Land for wildlife). Lets not give up too easily on our beautiful area, what is done by the Bligh Government can always be modified or changed later if it cannot be stopped now.
February 20th, 2010 at 6:02 pm
Well as somebody who lives at the brookfield end of GCR I am overwhelmingly appalled, angered and disgusted at the degredation that is taking place to “make Gap Creek Road Safer” for motorists. Over 40 large trees deemed too close to the road are being removed, many over 200 years old. The simple sealing of this soon to be thoroughfare is but a small step in the de-greening of the western suburbs. The rest of the road now needs to be made safe, and of course that means the destruction of habitat, the widening of roads, the installation of traffic calming which only means cars are repeatedly slowing down and accelerating again and again creating more noise and carbon pollution - it keeps on going. Just close it altogether.
March 3rd, 2010 at 7:49 pm
Scott, I saw that too and thought it really was a bit of overkill. However, people live all along that road- it can’t be closed, what about them? They’d never make it out of their driveways. I do disagree with any suggestion that it will create more traffic, I just think the people who travelled it before won’t be going at 10km/h now, they’ll be going at 50.
May 6th, 2010 at 5:00 pm
My question would be what made it alright for a road that you drive on (chose any you use to get to a destination of your choosing) to be built. In the process of this building habitat was destroyed and trees felled. Your very presence on the earth means you have displace “nature”. I by no means advocate total obliteration of nature and resources lets not be naive. There is still plenty of forest/reserve left after they have place a road through the creek.