Brisbane's worst footpaths have been revealed in a new RACQ survey, documenting a litany of complaints about the lack of safe pathways around a southside school.
Footpaths around Wellers Hill State School in Tarragindi were nominated 80 times by survey respondents as a major problem for children trying to get to school.
"My sons have to cycle/scooter ride up the street, which is busy as many parents drive/park in Chamberlain St for school pick-up and drop-off," one respondent said.
Another said the street was "filled with cars and often children have to walk down the middle of the road, especially when it is wet" on a daily basis.
RACQ spokesman Tim Mitchell said the lack of footpaths on parts of narrow Chamberlain Street was a problem for families and residents.
"This is a popular local primary school with more than 900 students; however, our survey has revealed there is a deficiency," he said.
Active travel encouraged
The state government's 2019 walking strategy revealed 59 per cent of children were not getting enough physical activity daily, and 75 per cent of parents wanted their children to be more active.
Brisbane City Council open data has revealed the council has more than 900 open requests for footpath maintenance that have been called in by locals across the city, including five in Tarragindi.
Last year the council budgeted $45 million for repairs and expansion across the city's 5,000 kilometres of footpaths, and continued its program of adding more footpaths around schools to encourage active travel.
The RACQ survey revealed the inner-west suburb of Toowong was second-highest for complaints about narrow paths and risky on-road cycling lanes, and the CBD came third for poor footpath connections and e-scooter safety.
"In Wooloowin, in the city's north, the major problem was the ending of the separated cycle path along the Northern Bikeway, where it transitions to an on-road bicycle lane at Price Street," Mr Mitchell said.
"On the Gold Coast, Nerang attracted the most responses, with residents saying they wanted a more connected footpath network."
The report follows Queensland Walks encouraging people to film their walking route around their neighbourhood to document hazards such as potholes, obstructions and cars parked over the footpaths.
Queensland Walks chief executive Anna Campbell said at the time that it was a failure of responsibility that children could no longer walk or wheel to school, and a less piecemeal approach to fixing broken connections was needed ahead of the 2032 Olympics.
