Our roads and tunnels are among the safest roads in the country for motorists, but they are not safe for cyclists.
Over the past month our Brisbane control room team have observed a significant increase in instances of cyclists on the Inner City Bypass and in our tunnels.
General Manager Assets Queensland Angelo Lambrinos said that with cars and trucks travelling 80 kilometres per hour, it's a dangerous environment for bicycles.
"It's illegal for cyclists to use our tunnels - and drivers are not expecting to see them in these locations either."
"Since July we've already seen more instances of cyclists in our tunnels and on the ICB than during the whole of 2021."
With more people using active transport methods to get in and around the city, we're working hard to get the message out that tunnels are not a safe place for cyclists or pedestrians.
We're asking everyone:
- Know the road rules and, particularly if you're using active transport, plan your route to ensure you stay safe.
- Take the time to familiarise yourselves with roads and tunnels where bikes and scooters are not permitted.
- Look out for signage, including at the tunnel entrances and exits that clearly states cyclists are not permitted.
- Use Google as your GPS, and selecting walking or cycling as your mode of transport to help you avoid inappropriate roads like our tunnels.
"Our team have our eyes on the road, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We have automatic detection systems that help us to quickly identify anything out of place in the tunnel, including pedestrians and cyclists," Angelo said.
"When our team see one of these more vulnerable road users entering our tunnels, we will contact them using our loud speaker PA system, close lanes and do what we can to protect them, while our incident response team are dispatched to pick them up."
