Warning, this post may have moments of me feeling superior for owning a vespa.
The streets of the Brisbane CBD were packed with vehicles stuck in gridlock today, but when I got on my scooter there were no cars around for miles. The cause of the gridlock was the closure of the Ann St overpass on to the Riverside Expressway because of concerns about some cracks seen when resurfacing the road over the weekend. The reason why there were no cars around when I got on my scooter was because my Vespa was parked underneath the “potentially unsafe structure”. The chances of a failure are remote but I was quite enamoured of the idea of an upgrade to a Vespa GTS if it was crushed.
My usual walking route to the bike was blocked so I had to walk the long way round to get to it. I got to go in to the no people zone area to pick it up which was a very lonely walk. If you’ve ever seen the movie “28 Days Later” where Cillian Murphy walks the empty streets of London you’ll have some idea of how i felt. It was unusual not to have the cars rushing by overhead. Putting on my helmet I mused on how useless it would be if it collapsed right then and there.
The actual ride home was quicker than normal thanks to some directing of traffic by police. Riding over Victoria Bridge where all the buses were backed up in the bus lane I wanted to wave regally with a big grin on my face. Overtaking the stuck drivers near the convention centres I wanted to give the thumbs up. But I just kept my hands on the the handlebars and the wind in my face heading straight for home.
15 minutes later suckers. 🙂
Brisbanes traffic network is stupid…
I did find however that even though that article started to dive into the issue they some how let it run out of breath simply finishing with
“The Queensland Government is currently assessing submissions from developers to build the North Bank riverfront precinct under the expressway, complementing the popular South Bank parklands. ”
How Completely unrelated is that to the issue…
Perhaps one of their criteria in the assessment for the north bank is the ability to hold up an expressway. 🙂
At least this is a good argument for the Lord Mayor’s Hale St Bridge and who knows, maybe we’ll see an Oxford St Bridge too?
Maybe it’s all a consipiracy by the Local and State government so that they don’t have resistance to the tunnels and the bridges. Mind you though, I’ve never thought politicians were smart enough to conspire about anything.
I personally think the North Bank precinct is intergrally related to Brisbane’s transport network. After all, people have to get there somehow and the riverside expressway is/was the best method of travel to the city if you’re coming from the south.
I’d also argue that the Southbank precinct isn’t that popular, it’s just the only greenspace left anywhere near the city apart from the botanical gardens so it gets that high by default 🙂
Maybe it’s because it’s the only third time that I’ve commuted to Brisbane in the morning, but I’m extremely stoked that I can leave the Sunshine Coast at 7am and arrive into Spring Hill at 8.20am, giving me enough time to leave the car at my friend’s place and walk the remaining distance to work.
Yesterday and today there was barely any traffic on Lutwyche Road and all the way out to the highway. I probably stopped at about 4 traffic lights? Kick ass!! I thought commuting to Brisbane would be really really bad. Now my only dilemma is which CD will I be singing along to at the top of my lungs on the highway?