THERE are growing demands to open to the public for 24-hour access the Bradfield Bridge over the Bremer River.
The pedestrian bridge runs between Riverlink Shopping Centre at North Ipswich to Tulmur Place in the CBD but is locked off every night for “community safety concerns”.
North Ipswich resident Adam Dayes said one of the main reasons he and his partner bought a home in the area was the possibility of being able to walk and cycle across the city.
“Imagine our horror on our first night out at Banshees Bar when we found council-owned Bradfield Bridge was locked off early evening,” Mr Dayes said.
“How is it that Ipswich City Council has pumped untold millions of dollars of ratepayers’ money into the Nicholas Street redevelopment and that it then ignores the nighttime economy?”
Opening times of the council-owned bridge are from 6am to 10pm (recently changed from 9pm) Sunday to Wednesday, and 6am to 10.30pm Thursday to Saturday. Times vary for events.
“History shows that provision of a pedestrian bridge linking the centre to the CBD was a condition of the centre opening,” Mr Dayes said.
“Now it’s like the demilitarised zone on The Bremer, where the council and Riverlink guards symbolically lock the gates at the prescribed time.
“The Bradfield Bridge is a vital link on the network of cycleways that the council rightly supports.
“An E-bike recharging station has recently been installed in the council carpark adjacent to the locked gates – this is an example of under-utilisation at best, self-defeating stupidity at worse.
“Maybe the seeds of this divided city stem from the creation of the centre itself, the demise and tentative rebirth of the CBD.
“This error of connectivity needs fixing. Buck passing and inaction simply won’t cut it.
“We demand a 24-hour a day Bradfield Bridge.”
A spokesman for Riverlink owners, Leda, said it was not responsible for the opening times of the bridge.
“Riverlink has never asked for the bridge to be locked up each evening.”
A council spokesman, however, insisted bridge shutdown periods were through a reciprocal arrangement with Leda.
“The operating hours of Bradfield Bridge are determined jointly by Ipswich City Council and Riverlink through mutual agreement,” he said.
“The bridge stretches between public space in Tulmur Place and private property, Riverlink Shopping Centre, and is closed nightly for community safety reasons.”
The Leda spokesman replied: “The council dictates which times the bridge is open to the public and then comes to Leda to discuss if we agree with these periods.”
The southern end of the bridge is sometimes locked at a time time, between 11.30pm-1.30am, to allow moviegoers to access their cars in the CBD carpark.
Infrastructure, Planning and Assets Committee Chairman Andrew Antoniolli said opening Bradfield Bridge for night use might be something Council might investigate in the future.
The bridge is named after John Bradfield, the civil engineer responsible for the Story Bridge, in Brisbane, and the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Bradfield was born in 1867 at Sandgate and was educated at North Ipswich State School and Ipswich Grammar School.
Built by CASA Engineering, the bridge opened on October 16, 2010.
