Get rid of it now: Row over restaurant wreck leaves commuters adrift
The never-ending saga over the derelict Drift restaurant at Milton has taken another twist, with the Brisbane City Council complaining state government dithering has forced it to close a busy traffic lane so the wreck can be removed.
The remnants of Drift Restaurant resting on the Bicentennial Bikeway in the aftermath of the March 2022 flood. (AAP Image/Jono Searle)
The council’s transport chair Ryan Murphy revealed on Tuesday that one lane of Coronation Drive would be temporarily closed to traffic to allow cyclists safe passage until the government removed Drift from the Bicentennial Bikeway.
The shell of the restaurant, one of the Brisbane River’s worst eyesores, became marooned on the bikeway during this month’s devastating flood, blocking the city’s busiest route for cycling commuters.
Prior to its latest mishap, it had sat derelict on the river since it was wrecked during the 2011 Brisbane flood. The fate of the 200-tonne hulk had become one Brisbane’s ugliest examples of the constant political bickering between City Hall and William St.
For several weeks, cyclists and pedestrians have been forced to either use an extremely narrow footpath or take their chances with Coronation Drive traffic to travel between the city and Toowong.
Now, Cr Murphy said the council would temporarily close one of the road’s westbound lanes to cars from next Monday and turn it into a two-bay bikeway to ensure cyclists’ safety.
“Traffic along this section will be slowed to 40 km/h and water-filled safety barriers put in place to separate vehicle and cycling traffic,” he said.
“We acknowledge Coronation Drive is a very busy road and that this is going to inconvenience westbound motorists,” he said.
“Unfortunately this situation is going to take longer than first envisaged and safety must be our priority.
However, Transport Minister Mark Bailey disputed the council’s claim it would take six weeks for the government to remove the remains of the restaurant.
He told ABC Radio that while the bikeway would be cleared in a matter of days, it may take several weeks for the restaurant to be entirely removed.
Late on Tuesday and after the council had revealed the planned lane closure, Deputy Premier Steven Miles said he had “directed the Queensland Reconstruction Authority (QRA) to use its powers under the QRA Act to stabilise and make safe the damaged Drift Restaurant structure after an independent engineering report found it posed a significant public safety risk and could collapse”.
“The Queensland Government is concerned by the findings within this report, and I’ve directed QRA to exercise its powers under the QRA Act to work with MSQ to undertake emergency stabilisation and remediation works,” he said in a statement.
