Brisbane River Is Getting Yet Another CBD Pedestrian Bridge

Whether you're working in the CBD or hanging out at South Bank, crossing from one side of the Brisbane River to the other is a straightforward prospect, especially if you're making the trip on foot. No fewer than five bridges for pedestrians are located between Hale Street and Gardens Point; however, that's clearly not enough, with the busy stretch of the river about to gain another crossover.

Proposed as part of the Queen's Wharf development, the Neville Bonner Bridge will reach from the new precinct over to the Cultural Centre Forecourt. Earmarked solely for foot traffic and named after the country's first Indigenous Australian parliamentarian, it'll link Queen's Wharf's restaurants, bars and retail hub with South Bank's venues, plus the surrounding parklands.

Construction and opening dates haven't been revealed, but the Queensland Government has just announced that the tender for the project will soon be unveiled, meaning that work could be underway sooner rather than later. An exact cost for the bridge hasn't been revealed either, but, speaking to The Courier-Mail, Tourism Minister Kate Jones noted that it's expected to range around the $100 million mark. She also advised that it would be paid for by the consortium behind Queen's Wharf — Destination Brisbane Consortium — rather than taxpayers.

Of course, if you're thinking the obvious — that is, do we really need another piece of cement crossing the river in a part of city that already has plenty of them? — you're not alone. The Neville Bonner Bridge will sit between the Victoria Bridge and the Goodwill Bridge, after all. The former runs from QPAC to the Treasury Casino, is open to cars, buses, bikes and folks just using their legs, and is located incredibly close to the new bridge (particularly its southern section). The latter is already purely for pedestrians, spanning from the other end of South Bank over to the Queensland University of Technology.

As for Brisbane's other three bridges with pedestrian access in the area, they're all nearby too — the foot traffic-only Kurilpa Bridge runs from the Gallery of Modern Art over to Tank Street, the mixed-use William Jolly Bridge links Grey Street with North Quay, and the Go Between Bridge, which caters for vehicles, cyclists and walkers, runs from Merivale and Cordelia Streets in West End to Hale Street in Milton.

Perhaps the idea is for Brisbanites to spend more time walking across bridges, and less time walking to get to one?

For further details about the Neville Bonner Bridge, visit the Queen's Wharf development website. We'll keep you updated with an opening date when we have one.