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Commuting to Northgate (Brisbane)

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 7:43 pm
by Max
Hi guys,

As some of you know, I live in Mitchelton and work in Archerfield. I sometimes ride my bike to work, but the distance makes for a long day (2.5 hours each way). Due to some restructures at work (I work for BlueScope Steel, we've been in the news a bit lately.. 1000 job cuts and more to come), there's a possibility I could soon be working out of the office at Nudgee Rd, Northgate. Assuming it happens (and I don't find myself alongside the 1000), the relocation would mean a much shorter commute, which would be very welcome!

What I'm after is information about the feasibility of routes. I'm quite happy to ride through to Toombul shopping centre on the KBB bike path. From there, I'm undecided. I could go up Melton Rd, carry on through to Oates Parade, and finally onto Nudgee Rd. Or, I could carry on through the Shultz Canal area and loop around to Nudgee Rd, turn left onto Nudgee Rd and get there that way. Is one of these approaches better than the other in terms of road safety, traffic levels, hazards etc? Is there some other route I should consider?

I plan to recce both of these routes on the weekend, but obviously this doesn't give me a proper assessment of weekday conditions. If anyone could give me some pointers, I'd be very appreciative.

:)
Max

Re: Commuting to Northgate (Brisbane)

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 7:48 pm
by Comedian
If you don't get any replies you know what happened to the last person that tried it. :shock: :mrgreen:

Re: Commuting to Northgate (Brisbane)

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 7:59 pm
by lethoso
Max wrote:What I'm after is information about the feasibility of routes. I'm quite happy to ride through to Toombul shopping centre on the KBB bike path. From there, I'm undecided. I could go up Melton Rd, carry on through to Oates Parade, and finally onto Nudgee Rd. Or, I could carry on through the Shultz Canal area and loop around to Nudgee Rd, turn left onto Nudgee Rd and get there that way. Is one of these approaches better than the other in terms of road safety, traffic levels, hazards etc? Is there some other route I should consider?
Nudgee rd. carries a fair whack of traffic during the week, including a fair number of trucks - that said I cross it much further down, it might tail off up the northgate end. I've only been on Melton Rd. on a weekend, and haven't followed it the whole way out, but I think it'd be a better bet. I can't think of any alternate ways out there.

Re: Commuting to Northgate (Brisbane)

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 8:19 pm
by osrg
Max wrote:Hi guys,

As some of you know, I live in Mitchelton and work in Archerfield. I sometimes ride my bike to work, but the distance makes for a long day (2.5 hours each way). Due to some restructures at work (I work for BlueScope Steel, we've been in the news a bit lately.. 1000 job cuts and more to come), there's a possibility I could soon be working out of the office at Nudgee Rd, Northgate. Assuming it happens (and I don't find myself alongside the 1000), the relocation would mean a much shorter commute, which would be very welcome!

What I'm after is information about the feasibility of routes. I'm quite happy to ride through to Toombul shopping centre on the KBB bike path. From there, I'm undecided. I could go up Melton Rd, carry on through to Oates Parade, and finally onto Nudgee Rd. Or, I could carry on through the Shultz Canal area and loop around to Nudgee Rd, turn left onto Nudgee Rd and get there that way. Is one of these approaches better than the other in terms of road safety, traffic levels, hazards etc? Is there some other route I should consider?

I plan to recce both of these routes on the weekend, but obviously this doesn't give me a proper assessment of weekday conditions. If anyone could give me some pointers, I'd be very appreciative.

:)Max
Hi Max.... i work in Crockford Street, which is the last left off Nudgee Rd before you get to Bluescope. Now the traffic when i get to work between 5.45-6am carries a fair bit of traffic even at that hour of the morning, and it gets obviously much heavier as you work your way to 9am. I live in Manly and come across the Gateway onto Southern Cross Way, then exit at Toombul Rd.

I do some mornings come along Nudgee Road from Kingsford Smith Drive just for different scenery, and the traffic is ok until you get to the Airport Link underpass, then it thickens up from there.

I'd definitely be cruising along Melton Rd, across into Oates Pde and then onto Nudgee Rd for the short run to Bluescope. it's still reasonably busy, but not as bad as the alternative. The sheer amount of traffic around Nudgee Rd/Toombul Rd intersection would be a concern to me. Come to think of it, i don't think i've seen a cyclist at that intersection in all my trips to work.
Max[/quote]

Re: Commuting to Northgate (Brisbane)

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:43 am
by Max
Thanks, all, for your responses. It sounds like Melton Rd/Oates Pde/Nudgee Rd is the way to go. I'll check it out over the weekend.

:)

Max

Re: Commuting to Northgate (Brisbane)

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:48 am
by winstonw
I live at Wavell Heights and drive Melton Rd several times a week. Personally, I wouldn't cycle between Toombul shops and Buckland Rd roundabout during peak hour, as it is a shoulderless rat run.

Nudgee Rd certainly carries a lot of truck traffic, but it is a wider road.

Another option is stay on KBB to the criterium circuit, onto Hedley Av (wide but watch the Buckland Rd intersection), right into York (with marked bike lane), left into Nudgee Rd.

As always try both ways and see which fits best.
Good luck not being one of the 1000.

edit: there's a 50metre dirt track at the downstream end of the criterium track that goes up onto Nudgee Rd. I wouldn't take a good road bike on it though, especially in the wet

Re: Commuting to Northgate (Brisbane)

Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2011 11:17 am
by Max
I had a crack at the Melton Rd/Oates Pde/Nudgee Rd route today. It seems quite doable, with some caveats. Melton Rd has a narrow stretch near the Toombul shopping centre. Even with light weekend traffic, it felt a bit iffy. But that's life; I'll figure out a way to deal with it. The rest of the route was pretty good; wide roads for the most part, and the road surface was in reasonable condition. Nudgee Rd has a couple narrow spots but they are short. The whole ride took me 44 minutes, which I'm quite pleased about. A much shorter ride than my current 2.5 hour route!

In truth, there were more hazards on the KBB today than on the road. Yesterday's mammoth rain storms put a lot of debris on the path. Sticks, big seeds, rocks and other things made parts of the KBB a bit hairy. In one section, near the Gympie Rd underpass, there was so much mud (inches deep) I ended up dismounting and carrying the bike over it. Actually, that part of it made me think I'll have to come up with alternate routes in the event there's localised flooding.

Next weekend, I'll have a crack at Winstonw's two suggestions and see how it pans out. The week after next, I'll be on holidays so it will be a good opportunity to try the routes under normal weekday conditions.

:)

Max