Bicycle Queensland has reached out to Brisbane City Council about a funded active transport project in Aspley in Brisbane’s north. $5 million in State Government funding was provided to Brisbane City Council in June 2024, but construction has yet to begin.
The Aspley link goes from Beams Road to Cabbage Tree Creek. It will allow you to ride up and beside the Beams Road overpass, avoiding the dangerous road crossing underneath. It serves a number of transport functions, providing safer access Aspley State High School and to Carseldine rail station.
Yesterday, Queensland’s Shadow Transport Minister Bart Mellish effectively posed two important questions: Where did the funding go? When will the project proceed? Both the local community and the bicycle community deserve answers to these questions.
Late Friday our CEO, Matthew Burke, received assurances from the Lord Mayor’s office that Council still wants to build the bikeway.
It may take us a bit more time to get a fuller picture on the funding agreement and the timing for delivery. We’ll engage with Council and others over the coming weeks and will let the large Northern Brisbane cycling community know more when we have a clear picture.
Through June 2025, Brisbane City Council engaged with the local community regarding intersection improvements around Milton Road, Croydon Street and Sylvan Road. This section is a highly trafficked corridor for bike riders – and there was strong community support for separated bikeways and footpaths, along with slower speeds. The community also supports reduced parking, with the provision of wider footpaths and street trees to create a better street experience.
“Bicycle Queensland is pleased the Sylvan Road bikeway is a bit closer to reality. It’s this road that has long been the unsafe ‘missing link’ between the Western Freeway Bikeway and the Bicentennial Bikeway putting thousands of cyclists at risk every week,” said Bicycle Queensland CEO Professor Matt Burke.
“The good news is the community is extremely positive about putting protected bike lanes down Sylvan Road. The number one thing people want is “separated facilities”. This is no surprise to the cycling community of course: real safety improvements should have happened here decades ago.”
“Bicycle Queensland has been campaigning for this link for more than two decades. Studies have been completed. The value of the project has been established. It’s not expensive and funds are available. The community is now clearly on board. Let’s just get it done!”
Council is promising to now produce concept designs and Bicycle Queensland expects to be engaged with these proposals in the coming months. Early works (pre-construction) are slated for mid-year. The full bikeway should open by 2028.
“Thanks to all our members and supporters who have helped with this campaign. Thanks to the great folks at Brisbane West Bicycle User Group, and Space for Cycling Brisbane, and the other groups that have been part of this fight. Thanks to everyone in the community who engaged with Council during their consultation period. We’ll organise a party if this link finally opens.”
Brisbane City Council recently announced plans for thousands of new high-rise apartments in South Brisbane’s Kurilpa precinct, as part of Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner’s anti-sprawl strategy.
Under the Kurilpa Sustainable Growth Precinct Plan, developers will be able to build taller, more sustainable buildings that exceed current height limits. Council says new buildings exceeding existing height limits must demonstrate design excellence, incorporating subtropical design principles. It is said they must also deliver new green spaces and pedestrian plazas, and contribute topublic art and creative lighting.
Bicycle Queensland wants Council’s Plan to ensure bike-friendly development.
Proposals have been lodged for 5,279 new dwellings across 12 projects, including apartments, student accommodation and hotel rooms. Plans include:
Three 50-storey towers on Nott Street
Three towers ranging from 24 to 50 storeys on Melbourne Street
Six towers between 12 and 30 storeys on Donkin Street
A 19-storey student accommodation project on Tribune Street with 525 rooms and a rooftop space
The area has very strong public transport links and a developing active transport network that will be strengthened with the completion of the Grey St bikeway and streetscape project. Justifiably, the Kurilpa precinct is being designed as a neighbourhood where owning a car is optional, with CBD-style maximum mandatory car parking limits and easy walking access to shops, cafes, essential services and public transport.
Bicycle Queensland welcomes the precinct’s focus on sustainable, connected living and it represents a significant step forward for the city. However, BQ’s CEO Prof. Matthew Burke is adamant that there needs be clear encouragement for active transport, including bike riding.
“We have to get premium resident and visitor bike parking into these new tall apartment developments. If these precincts are going to be “car-optional” as the Lord Mayor suggests, the developers have to provide safer bike storage options than are found in most Brisbane apartment buildings, where thefts are an ongoing concern.”
BQ’s Director of Advocacy, Andrew Demack, admired the plan’s promotion of urban density and the benefits that may create.
“Sustainable, connected living, which gives people the convenient, safe choice to walk, ride or take frequent public transport, is what makes great cities great. Brisbane can do this while also recognising that in a subtropical city, shade and shelter are vitally important.”
“In these parts of the city, the best way to go out for dinner will be to walk to the dining precinct. The best way to visit the shops will be on your e-cargo bike. And the best way to get to work might be via frequent bus or train services.”
To that end, Prof. Burke insisted that speed limits also be addressed.
“We also need to reduce the posted street speeds in these small, crowded streets down to 30km/h. The Kurilpa precinct will be crammed with pedestrians, shops, cafes and activity, and you can’t have high speed traffic in such places. We can’t build like the densest Asian cities and not bring our street speeds down to their level.”
More than 150 riders joined Bicycle Queensland (BQ) and The Star this morning (October 15) for a special Ride2Work Day coffee catch-up at the Velo Café, right beside the Bicentennial Bikeway at Queen’s Wharf Brisbane.
The event brought together regular commuters, BQ Members, occasional riders, and cycling advocates for a morning of conversation, caffeine and connection. It was a chance to celebrate the benefits of riding to work, but also celebrate riding bikes. It was also an opportunity for some guests to discuss ways to make cycling safer and more accessible across Queensland.
BQ CEO Professor Matt Burke spoke about the importance of creating a city that supports active transport.
“We need more bikeways and more street trees to make Brisbane a liveable, healthy city,” Professor Burke said. “Queensland already has some excellent cycling infrastructure, but it’s often disconnected. We want to see 60 kilometres of new bikeways delivered in the lead-up to Brisbane 2032 – just as Paris did to transform how people move around their city.”
The Star’s Chief Operating Officer Kelvin Dodt also addressed the crowd, highlighting Queen’s Wharf Brisbane’s support for community initiatives and active transport to their precinct.
“We believe this is a fantastic space. We are very much committed to making sure that the precinct is very community friendly and we work and collaborate consistently with different groups, including Bicycle Queensland, to make sure that everyone enjoys what we have to offer here in the precinct.”
Thank you to The Star for letting us use their event space this morning, and for providing the coffees for riders! BQ was also joined by Epic Cycles, one of our BQ Link partners and a long time supporter, on hand to help give some attention to the squeaky wheels that were riding to work. CycleLaw, BQ’s legal partner, were also on hand to answer questions that BQ Members or others riding to work may have had.
Ride2Work Day is Australia’s largest celebration of day-to-day riding, encouraging more people to try cycling as a convenient, affordable and healthy way to get to work. Events like this one can help people step out their door and onto a bike for their journey, but of course to do that we need to feel safe. Bicycle Queensland will continue to advocate to make Queensland a safer and more connected place to ride a bike.
Be a local advocate
See.Sense have also partnered with BQ for a Ride2Work promotion running for 4 weeks! Just by downloading their app, registering and making a report, you will be in with a chance to win 1 of 4 See.Sense ICON 3 rear lights! Full details are listed here.
The reports made will help build a dashboard that highlights any problem areas on popular bike routes – be it maintenance issues or user behaviour. Every bike rider can be involved in the reporting – so download the app and take part.
The shared use paths on Brisbane’s Story Bridge have been closed since ex-tropical cyclone Alfred, in March 2025. Post storm inspection showed the concrete pathways were dangerously thin, alongside other issues with the structure. Since then, active transport users in Brisbane have missed this vital link across the Brisbane River, with the detoured route not suiting many users. One side of the bridge’s shared paths are now set to open on Friday October 3.
In the meantime, volunteers have organised a Bike Bus across the Story Bridge, but this did not account for walkers, runners or e-scooter riders. The replacement decking fitted by Brisbane City Council allows all active transport users access again – and is part of the council’s long-term plan to restore the Story Bridge.
‘I saw the new decking as I rode past just this morning, and it looked great,’ said Professor Matt Burke, Bicycle Queensland’s newly appointed CEO. ‘This is a win for everyone who bikes, walks, runs or scoots in the inner-city. We are really happy the Story Bridge is open to cyclists and pedestrians again. Its loss was a major problem these last months. Congratulations to the Mayor and those at Council who got the decking fixed much earlier than predicted.”
‘The Story Bridge is emblematic of something much bigger though. There are a lot more roads, bridges and cycling facilities not being maintained at good standard, right across Australia. Local governments find it increasingly difficult to maintain their existing transport infrastructure, let alone build more. They own most of the roads, cycling and foot paths; they own the responsibility to fix them. But councils receive only a tiny percentage of our total tax revenues. They are becoming chronically underfunded, especially in the regions.’
During September, The Landing at Queen’s Wharf will be used for select events and event setup as part of the Brisbane Festival. The programme has 9 nights of events using this location, which bisects the Bicentennial Bikeway.
Bicycle Queensland has been informed that barriers will create a separation between walkers and riders, and that crowd control staff will be on hand to help direct pedestrians. As in any shared space, Bicycle Queensland encourages all users to reduce their speed as appropriate for the conditions – the posted limit is 10km/h.
Note that the bikeway will be closed from 4pm on Saturday 6 September for Riverfire. At all other times the bikeway remains open.
Event Dates and Times
Venue: Queens Wharf Brisbane, The Landing and Queen’s Wharf Plaza Installation: Thursday 4 September from 6.00am – 10.00pm
Event Dates: Friday 5 September – Saturday 27 September (Brisbane Festival Program) Event Times: 6:00pm – 10:00pm – Friday 5 September (Brisbane Festival Opening Night) 12.00pm – 9:00pm – Saturday 6 September (Riverfire by Australian Retirement Trust) 6.00pm – 8:30pm – Thursday 18 September – Sunday 21 September (Baleen Moondjan) 5.00pm – 10:00pm – Thursday 25 September – Saturday 27 September (Drone Show)
Dismantle: Monday 29 September – Friday 3 October 6:00am – 6:00pm
This September 3-4 Tour de Cure will be running their annual Can4Cancer and Stride for a Cure fundraising walks. The routes for each day are identical, with participants choosing to undertake a 21km or 10km course, both of which start and finish at The Officers Mess in New Farm. Tour de Cure is a not-for-profit organisation which runs quality events to raise vital funds for cancer research, support and prevention projects. Since 2007, Tour de Cure has raised $130+ million to support cancer projects, which has resulted in 193 cancer research breakthroughs.
To make the charity events possible, Tour de Cure have received a consent to occupy City Reach Boardwalk (Brisbane City), New Farm Riverwalk (from Eastern end of Howard Smith Wharves section to New Farm Park, New Farm), Kangaroo Point Bikeway (from Rotherham Street to Dockside Ferry Terminal, Kangaroo Point) and Mowbray Park Internal Shared Pathways (East Brisbane ) from 8:30am to 2:00pm on both days, via Brisbane City Council Transport Planning and Operations.
The 21km participants will arrive at Officers Mess at approximately 8.00am and have a staggered departure from 8.30am, while the 10km participants will arrive at Officers Mess at approximately 10.00am and have a staggered departure from 10.30am.
The events are expected to have 200 participants and 100 participants respectively on Wednesday 3 September, with 120/150 for Thursday 4 September bvetween the 21/10km walks.
The 21km route will head towards Brisbane City before crossing the Kulripa Bridge to Southbank. They will then continue along the foreshore through Kangaroo Point and will then catch a ferry from Hawthorne Ferry Terminal to Teneriffe where they will return along the riverside to New Farm.
The 10km route will head towards the city via Howard Smith Wharves, crossing the river using the Kangaroo Point Bridge. They will then continue along the foreshore towards Hawthorne, where they will catch a ferry to New Farm.
Due to the staggered departure and the differing walking paces of the participants, the field of walkers will be quite spread out.
Participants will adhere to normal pedestrian rules, walking on pathways, crossing at lights where applicable. There will be no infrastructure set up along the course – just a slightly higher volume of foot traffic.
When ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred passed through Brisbane in March, it left more than just downed trees and sodden streets in its wake. For thousands of people who walk, ride or scoot to get around, it severed a critical link across the river.
Both shared paths on the iconic Story Bridge were closed following damage inspections. Three months on, they remain shut—and the timeline for reopening them has not been made public. The repairs, it seems, will take much longer than anticipated.
But for locals who rely on active transport, life hasn’t paused. While there is a suggested detour, it takes longer and leads users through areas that many deem unsafe to use. And this has meant some people abandon active transport and resort to single passenger journeys in a car instead.
But Kathryn Good’s new “bike bus” is looking to provide a temporary solution.
“A a bike bus is basically kind of like a normal bus,” Kathryn explains. “It has a pickup point and a drop-off point, and everyone travels together. But on a bike bus, everybody is cycling. They’re on their bikes instead of being on a physical bus, so it’s about visibility and safety of people cycling together in a group. You know, there’s a lead and a tail rider and everyone rides together, and everyone’s heading to the same destination, just like a bus.”
Kathryn’s initiative grew from frustration and a strong sense of community responsibility. In April, she helped organise a group ride to raise awareness of the continuing Story Bridge path closures.
“We did a group ride previously in April to bring awareness to the issue,” she says. “Obviously the footpaths are still closed. There’s still no end in sight, and people still need to get across safely.”
Riding alone across the bridge’s traffic lanes is legal, but daunting.
“It’s a pretty scary thing to ride across by yourself,” Kathryn says. “There’s heavy traffic. The lanes are pretty narrow. It’s definitely not something a lot of people feel comfortable doing by themselves.”
The bike bus offers safety in numbers—and sends a clear message to Brisbane City Council that a proper solution for riders and walkers is still urgently needed.
“Hopefully this is a way to get at least a few people over the bridge safely, doing it together. And yeah, bring visibility as well to the fact that the footpaths are still closed and there’s still no end in sight.”
The bike bus is launching next week with an 8:00 AM departure heading north over the bridge toward Fortitude Valley. The first week is a pilot program, shaped by community feedback.
“We probably will informally ride back over the bridge if there’s anyone that wants to head back the other way,” Kathryn explains. “But yeah, the first week is kind of a trial. We want to hear feedback about whether people would prefer earlier, later, or an evening ride, what time would actually be useful.”
Volunteers are vital, but finite. Kathryn is hoping to strike a balance between availability and demand.
“Volunteer availability is the limiting factor at the moment. So if we can try and have it at a time that’s useful to the most people—and have a bigger group, more visibility, more safety—that’s the goal.”
Early community response has been strong.
“Some people have just been choosing to ride across the bridge regardless, in the car lanes, which is a pretty scary thing to do by yourself,” she says. “It’s great that we’re getting some of those people who hopefully either have tried it and not felt comfortable, or people who haven’t felt comfortable doing it alone – hopefully now they will.”
But while the bike bus offers a solution for people on bikes, it leaves others behind—especially those on foot, scooters, wheelchairs or pushing prams.
“Obviously, the solution that we are actually hoping for in the long term, because it seems that the footpath closures are going to be long term, is that Brisbane City Council do something like they did on Coronation Drive in 2022,” Kathryn says.
She’s referring to an incident in which Council temporarily blocked off a lane of traffic with plastic barriers to give people walking and riding a safe corridor, when the Bicentennial Bikeway was closed due to flood damage.
“If they would block off a lane of the bridge, then people could walk, ride, scoot, or take prams or wheelchairs – anytime of the day.”
Kathryn is quick to note that while cycling across the bridge is still legal, walking and scooting are not possible.
“So it’s helping cyclists, but ideally we would have a lane of the bridge open for everyone to get across. That would be the best solution while the footpaths are being repaired in the very long term.”
While a formal petition to Brisbane City Council closes today, Kathryn encourages everyone affected to keep the pressure on.
“The most effective thing we can do is to get in contact with the Council and ask them for this lane to get across,” she says. “Just calling or writing to the Council and asking them to put barriers up – to put a lane on the bridge- then everyone can get across safely. That needs to happen.”
Bicycle Queensland supports Kathryn’s initiative as a creative and caring workaround, but agrees it is not a substitute for action from Brisbane City Council. The Story Bridge is a critical piece of the city’s active transport network, and a safer solution for all users needs to be developed.
You can follow the Bike Bus Facebook page for updates on the schedule – or get in touch via Facebook or the email address below if you would like to volunteer:
