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So the cost of ‘parking’ on the Gateway Bridge in Brisbane has risen once again — $6.50 per trip. Still cheaper than parking in the city centre I guess. Like all owner-drivers I spend thousands of dollars each year on vehicle registration. I spend thousands of dollars each month on fuel. I spend thousands of dollars each year on tolls, and soon I can see myself spending thousands of dollars repairing suspension faults on the trucks due to the dismal state of the Gateway Motorway, particularly the stretch southbound between Old Cleveland Road and Mt Gravatt-Capalaba Road. Doing metro runs on a daily basis can see me having to cross the river up to ten times per day. $130.00 per day, 5 days a week ! I remember when the bridge and motorway were opened. They were urging heavy vehicles to avoid going through Fortitude Valley. “This was to be the most economical route for commercial traffic” they touted. Well, the cost of crossing the bridge is becoming prohibitive. The Fortitude Valley route is (once again) looking attractive, if only for the fact that traffic still manages to move in peak hour. After 20 years of tolls, is the Gateway Bridge still not paid for? Perhaps we might one day see a flat rate toll for all vehicles. Perhaps (if they seriously wanted heavy vehicles out of the centre of Brisbane) they might rethink the current toll levied on heavy vehicles and create a situation where we are rewarded for avoiding the city rather than “fined” at the toll booth. Ian ‘Snozza’ Heymink Tamborine, Qld, 4270
