Redlands mayor Karen Williams and Capalaba MP Don Brown have made up, with a joint call on the state government to put up a business case for the long awaited Eastern Busway to be extended to Capalaba next year.
Cr Williams and Mr Brown have been at war for the past two weeks over how best to get infrastructure like the proposed $940 million high frequency bus system extended to Redlands.
Mr Brown said Cr Williams had given up on infrastructure because council had not contributed money to mount a business case while Cr Williams accused Mr Brown of bullying and not putting enough effort into attending infrastructure planning sessions.
The pair have since met to iron out differences.
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Cr Williams said she had asked Mr Brown to sponsor a petition to Parliament, calling for the government to prepare a business case for the busway to be extended to Capalaba, with capacity to extend it to Victoria Point.
A petition would give residents the chance to tell the government how important the busway was for their daily commute.
“I thank Mr Brown for standing up for the city by supporting the petition,” Cr Williams said.
“Extending the Eastern Busway to Capalaba has been spoken about for a number of years and is an important project to help with traffic congestion in and out of the Redlands.
“While an Eastern Busway is not currently included in his government’s SEQ regional plan, it is comforting that Mr Brown is willing to put his name to this petition to call for a business case to be completed by Building Queensland to investigate the long awaited project for the Capalaba community.”
Cr Williams said delivering the Eastern Busway to Capalaba had the potential to bring the Brisbane Metro to the Redlands.
“Once we have the business case, we will be able to see the full cost and benefits of the project and apply for Infrastructure Australia funding.”
Mr Brown said it was good to work alongside Cr Williams.
“An Eastern Busway would build upon the Palaszczuk government’s commitment to public transport,” he said.
“We are committed to delivering the $25 million Eastern Transitway which will improve travel times for Redlands bus commuters to Brisbane City and help pave the way for an Eastern Busway.
“This is in addition to the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail project which will deliver trains every six minutes in peak hour and save commuters 14 minutes into Brisbane City, as well as, our fairer fares reform, which saves workers travelling from Redlands to Brisbane city $800 per year,” Don Brown said.
We encourage all residents to get online to sign and share the petition at parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of- assembly/petitions/petition-details?id=2913.
The Eastern Busway was built to Coorparoo but abandoned by the Newman government as part of debt reduction measures. The project has not been restarted by the Palaszczuk government which has been concentrating on Cross River Rail.
At the last election Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said the Eastern Busway would be extended to provide Old Cleveland Road with bus priority measures and improved cycle access starting at Cavendish Road and ending at Creek Road.
