Concept: UQ Lakes to Chancellors Place Cross-Campus Busway Tunnel

[Metro]

Notice. This is a concept thread for discussion purposes. It is not intended to be funded any time soon.

Discussion Concept for a Green Tunnel underneath UQ Campus St Lucia:

Disclaimers

• Not to scale
• Not BTQ Policy
• Discussion concept only

Description

• Slip Road Bus Portal. Slip Road behind the Biological Sciences Library is modified. Bus services entering Chancellors Place drop passengers at a remodelled Chancellors Place bus stop before continuing down into the Slip Road Bus Portal.

• Bus Tunnel Under UQ Campus. Bus services continue down into a tunnel portal below UQ St Lucia Campus. Tunneling techniques similar to what was used for the Adelaide Street tunnel could be considered.

• UQ Lakes Bus Portal. Buses surface using a bus portal inserted into the hill below the UQ Union Complex into the UQ Lakes busway station. This allows buses to exit into the UQ Lakes Busway station.

• Eleanor Schonell Bridge. Buses continue across the Eleanor Schonell Bridge to drop passengers at Boggo Road busway station and CRR station before continuing to PAH Busway station.

• Potential new space for a bus layover space at PA Hospital Busway Station (see concept image).

Tunnel concept:

Potential bus or Brisbane Metro layover or recharge space at PA Hospital Busway Station

Potential Brisbane Metro and standard bus layover area

Discussion

Such a tunnel would be about 850 m long, and be similar to the tunnel between Dutton Park and Boggo Road busway and railway station.

Any thoughts or comments from members?

[GonzoFonzie]

The UQ Lakes bus station would need to be demolished to allow for a gradient tunnel entrance as well as raising the tunnel build to prevent flooding. Can’t have both the bus station and portal entrance here. As least Dutton Park stop will have renewed appreciation.

The other bus portal along Slip Road is not realistic unless the library goes. The tunnel entrance would need to start at the Chancellor’s Place bus station, which means it too needs to go. Local traffic and the tightly-packed buildings here leave you with little choices.

It removes two dis-jointed bus stations and creates one centralised underground station that can act as a direct transfer from the 66, to all other western bus services.

If this concept is even feasible, why would the BCC, State or Federal Government’s even commit to something that only directly benefits UQ and their students?

[Windy]

Can this Plan be adjusted & considered for eventual western extension of Brisbane “Metro” to the likes of Indooroopilly, Kenmore, etc?

[Metro]

There used to be a tunnel portal exiting into Adelaide Street from Albert Street in the CBD.

This managed to fit into the space between Adelaide St and Queen St Mall, and included a bus stop. Route 412 used it.

The distance between buildings on Albert St is about 13 m and a standard road lane is about 3.5m wide.

Slip Road, in contrast, is about 17m wide from Google Maps measurements. Slip road is about 100 m long.

So the space should be sufficient, and demolition isn’t required.

The tunnel portal could also be set into the hill. I don’t believe a wholesale demolition of UQ Lakes station is required for this to happen.

We have a tunnel exit from the side of a hill at Dutton Park with bus stops immediately after it. The possibility of doing similar at UQ Lakes should be explored for feasibility.

As for flooding, we’ll need more info about that. That area does flood. However, couldn’t you simply close the tunnel and pump out the water later? Or seal it in a flood event?

[Metro]

@Windy

Can this Plan be adjusted & considered for eventual western extension of Brisbane “Metro” to the likes of Indooroopilly, Kenmore, etc?

Yes, that is the intent. A few members mentioned a UQ Lakes connection either on the surface or in a tunnel previously. It’s also featured in a Green Team policy proposal.

Hence, this thread.

Also, UQ is the second most travelled to destination after the Brisbane CBD.

There is high patronage potential for something like a cross-town Route 209 bus from Indooroopilly-UQ-Carindale.

Such a route would be busy in both directions and would have absolute advantage over the car as the alternative competing road routes are all indirect. It would also link the Ipswich/Springfield lines together with the Gold Coast, Beenleigh and Cleveland Lines (a bit like a Tennyson link members seem to want) plus the connection with PA hospital will also be really useful.

[GonzoFonzie]

@Windy

Can this Plan be adjusted & considered for eventual western extension of Brisbane “Metro” to the likes of Indooroopilly, Kenmore, etc?

There’s no point building it if there is even a slight chance of the tunnel flooding at the UQ Lakes side.

Any possible underground extension as distant as Indooroopilly and Kenmore stops would need to be rail based and part of a separate network, not involving or named “Brisbane Metro”.

[Metro]

Some historical context:

RBOT Media Release

Could a ‘Green Tunnel’ under UQ St Lucia Campus link East and West buses?

20th May 2023

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) has called for the University of Queensland (UQ) Senate and Transport Minister Mark Bailey to investigate the merits of connecting East and West buses under the UQ St. Lucia Campus.

UQ is the second largest patronage generator in Brisbane, after the Brisbane CBD. As such, UQ is in a unique position to have an enormous impact on the uptake of sustainable transport and carbon emissions in Brisbane.

“We understand that UQ has avoided allowing east and west buses to connect through its campus because of the perceived impact on its campus and St Lucia residents.”

“However, this position presupposes that the impacts are wholly negative. They are not.”

Bus surface through-movements can be minimised if bus services could travel under the campus using a short ‘green tunnel’ linking the Eleanor Schonell ‘Green Bridge’ and UQ Lakes busway station to UQ Chancellors Place.

“We think this is a very different proposition to buses running through campus on the surface.”

Under this concept, such a tunnel could potentially be constructed using similar techniques to that being used to construct the Adelaide Street tunnel for the Brisbane Metro BRT bus project. This would keep surface impacts to a minimum.

A short, 900-metre tunnel would allow buses to travel from PA Hospital underneath UQ to Indooroopilly in about 20 minutes. This would be much more direct and compares very well to driving a car over the Walter Taylor Bridge in congested traffic.

It would open up enormous opportunities for passengers on the Beenleigh, Gold Coast, Cleveland Springfield and Ipswich lines to all connect without having to travel into the Brisbane CBD. A potential design could also look at how to incorporate cyclist access.

RAIL Back On Track calls on UQ and the Transport Minister to assess the merits of the concept further.

Reference:

UQ’s cross-campus bus ban at odds with its master plan
https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/…/uq-s-cross-campus…

Robert Dow
Administration
[email protected]
RAIL Back On Track https://backontrack.org

Queensland Greens BCC Election material:

New cross-city connections and future Green Bridges

The Brissie Bus Boost creates one new bus connection and leaves open the possibility of two new Green Bridges, supported by high frequency bus services.

A new Inner West Transitway including a bus link across UQ’s St Lucia campus and a bus priority corridor on Sir Fred Schonell Dr would create the possibility for the new B10 Indooroopilly to Capalaba route, or similar east-west links. State Greens MP Michael Berkman has been campaigning for this new link since 2022. This new connection would be a game-changing improvement for both the inner-west and inner-south of Brisbane.

Notes

Queensland Greens Brissie Bus Boost (2024)

Bus boost | The Australian Greens

Disclaimer: Better Transport Queensland is a non-partisan, evidence-led forum. References to policies, data, or commentary from any political party are provided solely for discussion and analysis, and do not imply BTQ endorsement.

[Windy]

Buses can use Sir William mc gregor Dr but issues is the flow with chancellor place so might need elevated at some point on chancelllor place bus interchanges? So buses can loop back out towards indro etc?

[Metro]

What are your thoughts @Windy on what the route mapping should look like? This would influence the design of Chancellors Place.

For example:

• A ‘do minimum’ design could still terminate Routes 427, 428, 432 and 412 at St Lucia (Chancellors Place). Only perhaps a handful of routes would continue through to Indooroopilly (e.g. an extended 209 which would now continue through to Indooroopilly from Carindale). Under this model not much needs to change.

• A ‘Metro’ design would see M1 continue into Chancellors Place. The bus stops there would have to be reconfigured to fit Brisbane Metro buses and it is not clear where they would then layover and recharge. This could be a major works project.

Some thoughts for members:

1. Would you run Brisbane Metro all the way to Indooroopilly on surface streets? Some of the terraces in St Lucia are quite narrow.

2. What bus routes would travel across the Eleanor Schonell Bridge to PA Hospital? 412? 411? Something else?

[GonzoFonzie]

@Metro

1. Would you run Brisbane Metro all the way to Indooroopilly on surface streets? Some of the terraces in St Lucia are quite narrow.
2. What bus routes would travel across the Eleanor Schonell Bridge to PA Hospital? 412? 411? Something else?

1. No.
2. Nothing else but the 66.

After considering this further, the cross-campus tunnel concept might be redundant. Having a tunnel section separate with a new underground station terminus dedicated just for the 66 service without the Chancellor’s Place tunnel connection is more efficient as its been made into a trunk-and-feeder service. The walk to the underground station to Chancellor’s Place bus station is so much closer than UQ Lakes.

[alexjago]

I’ve spent over a decade of my life at or around UQ now - it’s big enough geographically to warrant two stations. It is, of course, unfortunate that Lakes is so far east on the edge of campus.

A combined station north of Forgan Smith isn’t actually that much closer to much of the uni, because most of the development is south of the Great Court.

[Wolfbow]

such a bus tunnel could be longer and go to Indooroopilly, then to a new western busway along the western freeway, to Kenmore and the centenary suburbs. like green team has suggested in the past!

[mocon31]

I’m not an engineer, but I don’t think you would be able to tunnel underneath the Union Complex / other buildings on the depth that would be available leaving UQ Lakes. My understanding is that the Adelaide Street tunnel works at shallow depth because it follows the street.

With the flooding, BCC Floodwise Report gives a 1% AEP / 100 ARI (i.e. 1 in 100 chance each year) level of 8.3m AHD and Jan 2011 is shown as being 7.9m AHD. For comparison, the Brisbane Metro Cultural Centre underground station was designed with a 150 ARI immunity but would be “inoperable” at 75 ARI. The existing UQ Lakes station is between 6m and 8m AHD so would also close at a similar flood extent, even if the tunnel is designed for greater immunity.

[Metro]

Could a UQ Green Tunnel Bus Link be a better substitute for a Beenleigh-Tennyson-Corinda train service?

A green tunnel bus link under UQ could essentially achieve similar or better outcomes as running a Beenleigh line train via Tennyson to Corinda (or vice-versa).

The overall chain of destinations/demand generators (e.g. for an extended Route 209):

Carindale <> SE-Busway <> PA Hospital <> Boggo Road (Rail/Bus) <> UQ Lakes <> UQ Chancellors Pl <> Indooroopilly Station <> Indooroopilly Shopping Centre

A similar chain can be established to Toowong by extending, say Route 402 via such a link:

Toowong Station <> UQ Chancellors Pl <> UQ Lakes <> Boggo Road (Rail/Bus) <> PA Hospital <> (Other destinations such as Stones Corner, Wooloongabba)

Buses on these routes would have high patronge potential, because the alternative by the car is very indirect due to the Brisbane River. The rail route is also indirect.

Cost of the 850m UQ Green Tunnel aside, the following advantages would apply:

• Links Western and Southern rail lines
• Links demand generators not on the rail network (2x UQ Stations), combines multiple demand centres
• High frequency, which is good for transferring
• Not constrained by availability of train paths

Reconstruction of UQ Chancellors Place and Slip road would create space, allowing for Brisbane Metro vehicles to be used on Route 412 as well.

[Pionsix]

I’ve always thought adding the infrastructure to allow a 209 to Indooroopilly, etc would be game changing, but this year I’ve had the need to make more cross-town trips (Coorparoo - Chapel Hill) and I’m not as convinced.

My Saturday Experience

Last Saturday I went via UQ and was hoping to transfer to 425 and was surprised to see both are essentially timetabled the same duration:

428 UQ (15:52) - Indooroopilly (16:08)
425 Ann 5 (15:51) - Indooroopilly (16:10)

Note: My GoCard shows 428 touch-off 2min early and 425 touch-on min early but we would have left on-time with total boarding/alighting

UQ - Indro by Surface Road

The above shows that speed of the trunk City - Indro corridor even for a bus and despite the longer distance makes a via UQ route a lot less competitive for non-St Lucia Peninsula journeys.

Now clearly the 428 isn’t the fastest route, but looking weekday midday off-peak:
432: 13min
427: 13min
428: 15min

Google Maps driving is giving 10-16min midday Monday for the 432 alignment and 12-16min for 428 alignment.

So with a surface alignment 13min probably is best timing.

Current Rail (Buranda - Indro)

Looking at rail timetables:
Roma St to Indro is 12min stopping or 8min.
Buranda to Roma St is 10min

Assuming a 5min transfer that’s 23 - 27min from Buranda to Indro by rail.

Current Bus (Buranda - UQ)

169 is 8min Buranda to UQ Lakes.

I think best case (tunnel) would be 3min (Including some dwell) for Lakes - Chancellor or via parameter probably 6min.

This means off-peak Buranda to Indro bus through route would be ~24-27min vs rail 23-27min (Although this is train to train station vs bus to bus station). Add at least another 5min at peak and rail is now faster.

Not in any way suggesting we should go back to it but for reference P88 was 29min off-peak Buranda - Indro

Tunnel/Grade separating (UQ - Indro)
Tunnelling or some other form of grade separation would reduce variability and speed up the trip but you would definitely be limiting where stations are and it wouldn’t be cheap. Essentially you are building a bypass of the area which needs the improved connections the most to speed up trips which can be done alternative ways in a similiar time.

Further I think an extension would struggle with load-balancing. From what I’ve seen UQ loads are often pretty close to capacity and it’s fairly likely that UQ bound passengers could block through passengers. e.g. If 402 was through running and arrived at Boggo westbound too full to pick up all rail connecting passengers and 29 sweeper terminating at UQ Lakes arrived just behind with capacity, this doesn’t help a Toowong bound passenger. There’s just no way to “reserve” through capacity which you also see with the routes continuing through the City, Garden City, Chermside, Indro.

There’s also the aspect that the Metro upgrade of UQ Lakes has essentially blocked it in and I don’t believe there’s a way to build a exit without removing a stop/s and you would be creating either a bike/pedestrian crossing.

Combined, my view is a busway/Brisbane Metro tunnel wouldn’t be worth it versus building a proper “Metro”/subway. I think there’s pretty broad support here that at some point in the future a “- City - South Brisbane - West End - UQ - Indro -” alignment or similiar will be justified.

St Lucia - UQ Lakes
Given my belief that through-running benefits St Lucia the most and a busway extension doesn’t effectively do this, I believe the pragmatic next step would be to build a UQ Lakes “Platform 3” on Sir William MacGregor Drive and extend at least some of the western routes around. This is consistent with the feeding into Metro approach and is a better use of capacity as passengers can always catch the first trip to UQ rather than needing to pick specific routes. This removes the biggest barrier for local trips which is the 750m/10min+ walk between stations.

Other Bus Options
One benefit of BNBN is streamlining the 105 to operate direct Boggo - Yeerongpilly - Tennyson - Indro omitting the Yeronga loop. This is 34min PAH to Indro off-peak or about 36min from Buranda to Indro (Assuming theoretical 105 extension to Langlands terminus).

If coming from rail Yeerongpilly to Indro is 25min (105), Yeerongpilly to Corinda is 14min (104), Salisbury to Indro is 24min (GCL), Salisbury to Sherwood is 13min (GCL).

If the aim is to improve cross-town or “replace Tennyson” I believe service increases on 104, 105 and GCL alignments would be significantly more cost effective options.

You could even look to redirect 105 to run Holland Park West (HPW) - Moorooka (Moorvale) - Yeerongpilly - Tennyson - Indro at about 43min (18min for new section) which would be competitive anywhere west of SEB and open a lot of cross-town journeys given 12min HPW - UQ (169) or 19min HPW - Roma (M1 + M2 to remove M1 terminus padding).

Concluding thoughts
I certainly still think there are benefits to opening up UQ Lakes - UQ Chancellors Place but this is overwhelmingly for local trips and I believe the best way to do this is to extend western routes to UQ Lakes rather than extend the Eastern Busway. For broader cross-town trips and connectivity, improving connections to and between the trunk high-speed cooridors (Busway, rail) such as upgrades to 104, GCL frequency, redirecting 105 to Moorooka/HPW and improving Indro bus-rail interchange and upgrading trunk corridors (All day Ipswich express) is going to offer a lot more value for money than I now think extending the eastern busway will and any change can go towards an eventual proper subway/metro.

[Metro]

Thanks for the considered response. What is HPW? Is this a weekday peak hour frequency or a location/place?

[Pionsix]

Holland Park West busway

[cartoonbirdhaus]

Possible configuration? (It would make sense to extend the 412 to UQ Lakes, to get more use out of the bus tunnel.)

[Revised, showing the 402 as an express “Metro” route instead]

[Metro]

Amazing network map!

[Windy]

Might need convert Indooroopilly to Stone Corners to be a potential Metro line once the nextwork extend out to Carindale (and later Capalaba)