Just because it’s not a major road doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be removed.
Level crossings are inherently dangerous not just to drivers, but also to pedestrians, the environment, and even the trains themselves as they add a big amount of uncertainty to operations.
Am I saying that all crossings should be eliminated? Of course not! Lines like the Western Main Line to Toowoomba between, let’s say, Thomas Street to Rosewood don’t have enough rail traffic to justify such investments.
But it’s the Ferny Grove line we’re talking about: a fully urban rail line that runs every 15 minutes or better carrying thousands of passengers every day.
I think in urban/suburban Brisbane it’s not just desirable but necessary to remove all crossings ASAP.
The fall from Newmarket Station/the crossing in question (~19m) to Wilston Station (~9m) is ~10m. It also rises ~11 m to Alderley (~30m). Enoggera is ~31m. So cutting (an covering in some areas) to sink the line is a real option potentially all the way to Enoggera Station.
West of Sth Pine Rd is not in a flood zone but does have overland flow but still has 460m from overland flow area to station/next overland flow area.
I would think that the top priority for the Ferny Grove line would be Alderley, followed by Mitchelton.
I’ve always thought it was a shame that when the line was duplicated and Ferny Grove station was upgraded that they didn’t elevate the station and remove those crossings there.
Actually your idea definitely has merit. The problem with putting an overpass at Alderley is resumptions. There are apartment blocks on either side and a daycare, as well as a corner shop diagonally opposite Coles that might have to go depending on design. That had always worried me as it means higher cost. The way to do it would be to close down the line for a few months and have intensive 24 hour works to upgrade the crossings. It would be disruptive but it means you could get the bulk of it done in one hit.
You could put in some crossovers in east of Newmarket and run services as far as there with buses for the rest. It might be worth running direct buses from the city direct to Alderley and then further out. You could try and do some preparatory works beforehand like driving piles down near Alderley to minimise the time it would take to put in the railway.
There are a few ways to cut the cake so to speak, each with their own pros and cons.
I’m a FG local - the new connection west of the station is a circuitous route and shouldn’t be relied for too much. There’s a decent amount of road traffic moving daily between Ferny Grove/Upper Kedron and the Hills District to the north, especially with regards to FGSHS which has a large catchment.
We not going to reduce car usage and improve active and public transport usage in SEQ (or Queensland) without reversing the car-first way our city has been built and the cultural belief that the No. 1 priority is that everything should be easily accessible by car!
