A petition to review the speed limits on the famed motorcycle road over Mt Glorious behind Brisbane has met a wall of resistance at Parliament House.
The petition was started by a group of motorcyclists last September over coffee at the Mount Glorious Cafe (formerly Maialla cafe) and has since amassed more than 600 signatures, even though it has only been available at the cafe.
Group spokesman and principal petitioner David White says the speed limits have been coming down on the twisting mountain road over the past couple of years and are now inappropriate for motorcycles.
“The catalyst for me was being booked along with another rider coming up the mountain through the forest on a pleasant ride and losing four points as I was doing 76km/h in a 60km/h zone. I had even nodded to the motorcycle cop as he went past,” he says.
“The petition is about getting the speed limits raised generally, not just for bikes.”
However, the petition may never get to Parliament as it needs a politician or the Clerk of the Parliament to sponsor it and so far three politicians have knocked it back.
In the latest correspondence, Member for Ferny Grove Mark Furner says he sought Transport and Main Roads advice which said that motorcycle riders are “considerably over represented in crashes on this road”.
He said the TMR attributed the primary cause of crashes to a rider’s approach speed, or misjudgement on corners.
“TMR has advised me it would be reasonable to correlate an increase in the speed limit with an increase in these types of crashes,” Mark writes in reply to David.
The speed limits on the Northbrook Parkway road are 60, 70 and 80km/h up and down the mountain with a couple of short 80km/h stretches now reduced to 70, some 50km/h areas in Mt Nebo and Mt Glorious villages, and 80km/h limits on the flat sections on the western side.
“We requested a review of the speed limits in order to get more suitable speeds for all road users, probably looking for 80km/h instead of 60km/h going up and down the mountain and maybe 90 – 100km/h on the flats instead of 80km/h,” he says.
“Having to comply with the posted limits means focussing more on the speedo than the road ahead which can be a bit dodgy with various hazards that are common on this road.
“I need to stress that the mountain has many hazards for the unwary and overconfident. We want everyone to travel safely and arrive home in one piece.
“Only for non-populated areas, the township of Mt Glorious is not included in the petition speed limit review.”
David still hopes to be able to submit the petition to Parliament without a politician as a sponsor.
While speed limits should constantly be reviewed, one of the biggest problems we have found with riding this road is the proliferation of solid single and double white lanes which makes it difficult to pass dawdling Sunday drivers.
This causes riders to become frustrated and make rash overtaking decisions.