Brisbane riders are being asked to fight against the loss of up to 200 designated motorcycle parking spaces in the CBD from January 1, 2017, while the new Casino is built.
About 60 spaces will be permanently lost in Alice Street, William Street and Queens Wharf Road and 140 more spaces are closing during construction of the boardwalk, bikeway and foreshore works.
Motorcycle commuter Gary Davis has started the Brisbane Motorcycle Parking Progress Group on Facebook to develop strategies to fight the loss of parking spaces.
“It appears neither the BCC, state government or the developer of the new casino want to assist or acknowledge the issue of motorcycle parking in the CBD,” he says.
“Riders were given no warning on Friday of the core sampling truck that took most of the bike parks on Queens Wharf Rd.”
He says Brisbane motorcycle and scooter commuters are doing their bit to reduce congestion, pollution and the strain on public transport, but have to run the gauntlet of parking fine inspectors.
“The Brisbane City Council in recent times have really done little by way of increasing the number of designated motorcycle/scooter parks in the CBD,” he says.
“So, in most parts of the city, if you happen to start work any later that about 7am, you’re fresh out of luck.”
However BCC says they have installed more than 700 extra free spaces since 2012 around the CBD bringing the total number of free motorcycle parking spaces to about 1500.
A BCC motorcycle parking representative says they are open to suggestions on other places to provide free bike parking.
However, he says the State Government holds a lot of the available spaces.
“Council is working with the State Government to identify opportunities to provide alternative sites to temporarily relocate the parking spaces impacted by the QWB development,” the spokesperson says.
“However, given the limited spare land in the CBD, relocation of all the impacted spaces may be difficult without assistance from the State.”
Riders used to be able to park on CBD footpaths in front of state-owned buildings where the building receded further than the footpath. However, those spaces were taken away a few years ago for anti-terrorism protection.
Gary says there is a lot of confusion over where riders can legally park in Brisbane.
Even the council’s own disputes Commissioner is confused:
The issue of parking on footways is complicated by the fact that the council does not have enforcement jurisdiction over every footway in the CBD.
“The sooner this town grows up and allows motorcycle and scooter parking on the footpaths the better,” Gary says.
Views on motorcycle parking
Some cities view inner-city motorcycle parking and footpath parking as an important method of freeing up parking spaces and easing congestion.
Motorcycle footpath parking has been legal in Victoria for some years and has been introduced in more recent years in parts of Sydney and Brisbane, although with varying restrictions, and Adelaide is expanding its CBD footpath parking trial.
Footpath parking is also common in many European, American, Asian and New Zealand cities where it is seen as a progressive move to encourage more two-wheeled transport to free up traffic congestion and parking spaces in big cities.
However, Gold Coast City Council recently rejected footpath parking for motorcycles and scooters after a trial that started late last year.
Brisbane currently has a restrictive practice of designated footpath parking areas delineated by white lines.
Compared with Melbourne’s more liberal laws on footpath parking, it means a lot fewer available spaces.