Wheels turn for 2032 Olympics and Paralympics to be car-free Games

The 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in south-east Queensland are already being planned as a “car-free” event, Brisbane’s lord mayor Adrian Schrinner says.

“Even this far out we can quite clearly say that this will be a car-free Games when it comes to the venues,” Cr Schrinner said on Friday.

“People won’t be driving and parking at the venues.

“That is not going to work. We need better public transport and better mobility to make sure we can ferry people to and from the Games.

“We will be learning from other cities to see how they have done it and how we can make it work here in south-east Queensland.”

On Friday, the Council of Mayors (SEQ) issued an Olympic-size wake-up call to Games organisers to put politics aside and get transport projects moving.

Carrara Stadium on the Gold Coast hosted the Commonwealth Games track and field events in 2018. 2032 Games organisers plan to improve public transport to remove driving and parking at 2032’s venues.Credit: Getty

Cr Schrinner, the chair of Council of Mayors, said he was worried the federal Coalition government and Queensland’s Labor government were caught up in pre-election politics.

“That is not productive to anyone,” Cr Schrinner said.

“We need to put that sort of behaviour behind us and get on and work co-operatively between all three levels of government.”

The first step was to sign the SEQ City Deal and begin prioritising projects to improve transport links in south-east Queensland, he said.

“It takes an average of 2½ years’ planning for a major project, another 18 months for procurement [tenders and choice between tenders] and approvals and then up to four years for construction,” Cr Schrinner said.

“That is already a total of eight years.

“So we don’t have any time to waste. We need these projects delivered before 2032, not by 2032, because our region continues to grow.”

This includes future Fast Rail projects in south-east Queensland.

A transport planning group is expected to be set up under the Brisbane Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, which will pass State Parliament by the end of the year.

A meeting of the City Deal leadership group â€" including federal Cities Minister Paul Fletcher, Queensland Deputy Premier Steven Miles and Cr Schrinner will be in Brisbane within weeks.

There has been tension between the Australian and Queensland governments during September and October as a draft City Deal between the three levels of governments surfaced.

Cr Schrinner said it was now time to “get on with the job”.

He said the proposed “all-levels-of-government” south-east Queensland City Deal was “absolutely essential”.

“We need to get it locked in and the time is now.”

Cr Schrinner said a “foundation City Deal” that received media coverage in the past fortnight would have additional projects added over time.

“There will be a lot of work done on business cases and planning in the early stages of the City Deal and they will populate the remainder of the deal,” he said.

“They will be added to the deal down the track and that will include things like faster rail, things like improved transport and road upgrades.”

South-east Queensland’s mayors have since 2019 advocated a Fast Rail network to better connect the region, but a subsequent 2021 Sunshine Coast consortia plan disappointed.

However, Cr Schrinner and Toowoomba mayor Paul Antonio â€" whose region is proposed to be connected by a future passenger Fast Rail â€" said faster train travel remained important.

“Faster rail is critical for the growth of our region and that is not just for the Games, Cr Schrinner said.

“We will always see faster rail as being an important part of this plan.”

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