[COM] Birkenhead Bridge Upgrade Project

[Pistol]

So, how’s the Birkenhead Bridge Upgrade going?

[PD2/20]

So, how’s the Birkenhead Bridge Upgrade going?

Well for a project announced 2 weeks ago, with info sessions held this week, construction due to start mid-year and finish by year-end.

https://dpti.sa.gov.au/ondeck/news?a=637817

[marbles]

Ok, I wasn't going to weigh in to this absurd idea, but what would the actual benefit be of such a bridge? I can think of only negatives.

- Loss of open space
- Loss of views
- Encouragement of through traffic, especially heavy vehicles
- Loss of trees and shrubs
- Loss of potential buildings, such as the empty block next to the light house
- Loss of car park space

lol what trees? loss of imaginary buildings? ok

loss of what views?

love how an idea is absurd because you dont agree with it lol

an elevated bridge would also allow big boats to go under? no bridge opening required? no waiting for boats to go under a bridge

bicycles and pedestrian paths on bridge...bonus

yes curve the bridge bypass the hotel

do you sit on commercial road and see a truck and say to yourself omg port adelaide is losing its heritage? port adelaide is all about industry and "commercialism"

no trucks...then no development...trucks supply development stock...people having a lovely coffee aint gonna save port adelaide and the peninsula

the whole current birkenhead bridge to stvincent st to commercial road is what is absurd! haha

[PD2/20]

lol what trees? loss of imaginary buildings? ok

loss of what views?

love how an idea is absurd because you dont agree with it lol

an elevated bridge would also allow big boats to go under? no bridge opening required? no waiting for boats to go under a bridge

bicycles and pedestrian paths on bridge...bonus

yes curve the bridge bypass the hotel

do you sit on commercial road and see a truck and say to yourself omg port adelaide is losing its heritage? port adelaide is all about industry and "commercialism"

no trucks...then no development...trucks supply development stock...people having a lovely coffee aint gonna save port adelaide and the peninsula

the whole current birkenhead bridge to stvincent st to commercial road is what is absurd! haha

80 years ago the Birkenhead river crossing wasn't an absurd idea as then the only river crossing was west from St Vincent St to Ethelton over the old Jervois Swing Bridge. Since then the Bower Rd crossing, the elevated Jervois Bridge and the Port River road and rail crossing have all been constructed to provide through routes to the Lefevre Peninsula which bypass the Port Adelaide centre. Further in 2011 heavy vehicles were discouraged (but not completely banned) from Commercial Road/St Vincent Street (East) by prohibited turns. How much industrial activity now remains in Port Adelaide Centre. There is a small pocket around Lipson St but most industry is now located in the surrounding suburbs.

I thought the trend in urban planning for many years now was the removal of through traffic from town centres on bypasses. Can you give an example of where a bypass has been removed to redirect traffic through a town centre?

[Honey of a City]

Ok, I wasn't going to weigh in to this absurd idea, but what would the actual benefit be of such a bridge? I can think of only negatives.

- Loss of open space
- Loss of views
- Encouragement of through traffic, especially heavy vehicles
- Loss of trees and shrubs
- Loss of potential buildings, such as the empty block next to the light house
- Loss of car park space

lol what trees? loss of imaginary buildings? ok

loss of what views?

love how an idea is absurd because you dont agree with it lol

an elevated bridge would also allow big boats to go under? no bridge opening required? no waiting for boats to go under a bridge

bicycles and pedestrian paths on bridge...bonus

yes curve the bridge bypass the hotel

do you sit on commercial road and see a truck and say to yourself omg port adelaide is losing its heritage? port adelaide is all about industry and "commercialism"

no trucks...then no development...trucks supply development stock...people having a lovely coffee aint gonna save port adelaide and the peninsula

the whole current birkenhead bridge to stvincent st to commercial road is what is absurd! haha

The future of the inner Port is not to have trucks ripping through it. The future is residential, leisure, and tourism, just like most old former city ports around the world have done. That’s why multiple developers are investing billions in three separate housing developments, hotels, a major new shopping centre, boutique breweries, and residential infill. Most heavy industry made the decision to leave the Port for greener pastures decades ago, and with it went the trucks, which can more efficiently and cost effectively bypass the Port centre completely due to previous sound planning. There’s no need for a bridge at the end of Commercial Rd, and it’s not going to happen. To get an idea of the the scale of such an elevated bridge you only have to look at the existing Tom Derrick bridge to the expressway, and that’s an opening bridge for the larger vessels. The ramps would obliterate the most commercially active section of Commercial Rd and there’s simply no business case to do that. Meanwhile the upgrade of the Birkenhead Bridge is very welcome and it will continue to serve the area effectively as it has since 1940.

[Ho Really]

If we want to get serious about the Birkenhead Bridge why not get rid of it completely? Why not go under than over? The water depth here is not important since ships with large draughts don't pass through here. Yachts have shallow draughts with perhaps the deepest (if we are talking about super/megayachts) of about 3~5 metres, while the majority would be around the 2~3 metre mark.

The tunnel could be built with prefabricated caissons dropped to the floor, sealed and then emptied of water.

Cheers

[Norman]

If we want to get serious about the Birkenhead Bridge why not get rid of it completely? Why not go under than over? The water depth here is not important since ships with large draughts don't pass through here. Yachts have shallow draughts with perhaps the deepest (if we are talking about super/megayachts) of about 3~5 metres, while the majority would be around the 2~3 metre mark.

The tunnel could be built with prefabricated caissons dropped to the floor, sealed and then emptied of water.

Cheers

Hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, for what purpose?

[Ho Really]

Hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars, for what purpose?

If you want a tram over this bridge might as well do it right.

Cheers

[Honey of a City]

Who’s proposing a tram over the Birkenhead Bridge?

[marbles]

well im sure there is plenty of heavy vehicle traffic going on in the port

the cluster of bottlenecks cars waiting in traffic lights from bridge just to get onto commercial road, is a continual daily dilemma, and investing further into a birkenhead bridge isnt solving any problems

a simple straight through journey from port to north haven in my opinion is where future investment should be implemented and any industry should be told to use port expressway not commercial road bridge or risk fines

and yes a direct pedestrian path, direct bike path, even a direct tram path

doing up birkenhead bridge is simply decorating something that will always be an irritating task for drivers

[Honey of a City]

well im sure there is plenty of heavy vehicle traffic going on in the port

the cluster of bottlenecks cars waiting in traffic lights from bridge just to get onto commercial road, is a continual daily dilemma, and investing further into a birkenhead bridge isnt solving any problems

a simple straight through journey from port to north haven in my opinion is where future investment should be implemented and any industry should be told to use port expressway not commercial road bridge or risk fines

and yes a direct pedestrian path, direct bike path, even a direct tram path

doing up birkenhead bridge is simply decorating something that will always be an irritating task for drivers

You may be sure about the heavy vehicle frequency but as someone who lives and works there I can assure you that’s pure fantasy. Heavy industry deliberately avoids the Port CBD because there are other cost effective transit routes to do so. There’s a wide pedestrian and bike path there across Birkenhead Bridge already used by many of us locals daily - whilst enjoying the views. The soon to be built footbridge across Dock One will add to that amenity. All is good as is and if it ain’t broke - you know the rest.

[Eurostar]

Reduce Commercial Road between Dale Street and St Vincent Street to one lane in each direction or make the section a transit mall. Encourage Foodland to move to Commercial Road frontage , use existing Foodland for little green space.

[marbles]

got any details of footbridge at dock 1? google didnt tell me much

[Hooligan]

Ummm... wasn't a new bridge built about 12 years ago, along with a nice new road in 2005 to divert the heavy traffic away from the port?

To build across the Port River further downstream would lead to either a need for a much higher bridge, or more openings as there are more frequent large ship movements. I imagine it would also be quite bad for the mangroves etc if it needed towers built around Barker Inlet.

Oh don't worry, i think building a new bridge anywhere along the port river is a ridiculous idea. Most certainly in the inner Port.

[Hooligan]

While we are all having dumb ideas, why not remove all the bridges and have ferries instead?