Brisbane 30km/h speed zones throughout the city: Council set to vote

A controversial push to reduce speed limits to 30km/h throughout residential areas in Brisbane has been met with outrage from residents in outer suburbs who are angry will drag out their daily commute to work.

Brisbane City Council will vote on whether to slow traffic to a crawl on ‘neighbourhood’ streets across the local government area on Tuesday.

Greens councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan has put forward the motion to discourage motorists claiming it will promote ‘vibrant public spaces and hubs of social activity’.

Identical schemes have also been trialled across other Australian cities including Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. 

Cr Sriranganathan said he expects the council to vote overwhelmingly in favour of the change.

‘Not only do they (30km/h speed limits) reduce the risk of serious injury for pedestrians and cyclists, but they promote streets as vibrant public spaces and hubs of social activity (lower speed limits are thus also great for small business),’ he wrote on Facebook Monday.

‘When traffic is slower, it not only encourages more walking and riding by improving safety, but it’s also more comfortable to hang out and socialise on the footpath.’

But those who live too far to walk or cycle to work and are not near convenient public transport, say the proposed change will only benefit affluent residents living in inner-city suburbs.

‘Sounds like a s**t idea 30km/h my car will stall going that slow, you really hate cars,’ one person commented.

Another wrote: ‘Reducing car use should be about increasing density and making alternatives viable, not about just making car usage painfully inconvenient in sprawling Australian suburbs where driving is necessary.’

Brisbane City Council will vote on whether to slow down traffic to a crawl on ‘neighbourhood’ streets across the local government area on Tuesday 

Greens councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan has put forward the motion to discourage motorists claiming it will promote ‘vibrant public spaces and hubs of social activity’ 

Others questioned Cr Sriranganathan’s claim the change would cause less accidents.

‘We have the safest cars we have ever had and we are driving slower for no reason. Where is the data that supports injuries to pedestrians in locals streets? That is a load of crap. Stop disabling us to live,’ one person said.

Another person said they’d seen a similar crackdown on cars play out in their home country.

‘I understand why it’s good in theory but having lived it in practice when I was visiting home last month (France), it was a pain in the bum because it was applied to the entirety of the town centres,’ the person wrote. 

‘You have to go at a snail’s pace, but most of those streets were empty of pedestrians or bikes so the positive effect was not seen.’

A third joked: ‘Why not make it 5km/h!? Lol. Why not make it zero? Ffs.

Identical schemes have also been trailled across other Australian cities including Sydney (pictured), Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. 

Cr Sriranganathan asked Brisbane LNP Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner during a council meeting in November what would be required to trial a 30km/h speed limit in the inner-city Brisbane suburb of West End. 

Cr Schrinner refused the request to trial a 30km/h speed limit, describing the idea as a ‘socialist Greens policy that hated motorists’.

‘When you hear a push for 30km/h what you’re hearing – read between the lines – is they really hate motorists and they want to punish them and they want them out of their cars,’ he said. 

‘Which is Greens policy pretty much anywhere in the world.

‘So whether it’s a socialist mayor like the socialist mayor in Paris, or Greens councils elsewhere, it’s a classic sign you’ve got a Greens council when they go for 30km/h limits.’