Concerns as bridge design cuts speed, rail crossing

Brighton council members have criticised designs of the proposed new Bridgewater Bridge for neglecting rail and road connections.

The proposed crossing will replace the aging and broken lift span with a new $576 million dollar design, the largest single infrastructure spend in Tasmania’s history.

Brighton councillor Leigh Gray said that the new bridge is a necessity because it is a vital part of Tasmania’s highway system.

“It’s Highway One, and at the moment we have a bridge that is in a poor state of repair, [and] is certainly in need of replacement in some way shape or form,” Cr Gray said.

The bridge will include a 16-metre high clearance for vessels, and a dual-carriageway rated at 80 kilometres an hour.

“Whilst I’m very happy with a new bridge, I would like to have seen it rated at 110 kilometres, whereas the current option they are investigating is for an 80 kilometre limit on it,” Cr Gray said.

The project is said to alleviate congestion and help travel to the Midland Highway, with funding provided by both state and federal governments.

Councillor Gray says its good to have more lanes on the bridge but wishes that funding had also been allocated for fixing the East Derwent Highway roundabout.

“I’m also disappointed that it is only the bridge that is going in and not subsequent works at the East Derwent Highway interchange, so there’s no works to be done there at this moment in time,”

Talks of light rail from Hobart towards Brighton have divided the community, but Councillor Gray believes if it ever happens that it should reach Brighton.

“I feel that if there is a light rail service it should be extended to our municipality, so we need that rail link to continue,”

“Whether we have the population or critical mass to actually facilitate a light rail service that is economically viable is doubtful in my opinion. Would like to see it? Yes, but I think it’s just going to be very difficult to implement and put into place,” Cr Gray says.

Brighton councillor Peter Geard stresses that existing transport connections were not working, and the bridge needs a light rail link.

“We just can’t rely on bus transport or river transport; river transport would be too slow, unfortunately even with the fast ferries it’d still be too slow and inconvenient for people in the weather,” Cr Geard says.

Brighton is a growing municipality and transport links to outer Hobart have been topics of discussion for years, with light rail between Hobart and Brighton much anticipated.

“Light rail is the only way they are going to go in the future to get people off the roads, because that’s the way it’s got to be, the rest of the world are doing it,” Cr Geard says.

Tasmanian Association of Tourist Railways acting president Tony Coen says a rail link must be maintained across the river for future train use.

“The bridge is important, we need to have rail access cross-river, we cannot lose that because once this bridge goes and there’s nothing across there, that is the end of it, it will never come back,”

“It’s like any railway, you pull it up it’ll never come back, too much effort to put it back,” Mr Coen says.

Groups such as the Tasmanian Transport Museum and the Derwent Valley Railway have expressed interest in operating heritage trains from Hobart across the bridge.

“You have a transport museum here and it wants to get into the act of running things up and down the suburban line, as well as taking the occasional tour off somewhere else,”

“If you have no Bridgewater Bridge it’s going to be locked into this section of line,” Mr Coen says.

The feasibility of heritage trains once more crossing the bridge is doubtful, but Councillor Geard says he would like to see it again someday.

“I’d love to see heavy rail but I don’t think it’s feasible… I’ve travelled train trips all over the world, and that trip to National Park is one of the best in the world and it’s just sitting there not doing anything,

“We’re just so backward here doing things, we’ve got no foresight to the future,” Cr Geard says.

Even if there is no rail system, Tony Coen says it should be retained for the future.

“There’s always the future, we have to think of the future about passenger trains, perhaps going from North to South, and also freight.”

The original bridge dates from the 1940s, and in recent years has had millions spent on restoring the failed lift span. The new bridge is expected to be open by late 2024.

More information about the designs can be viewed at the Department of State Growth website.