Positioning the Brisbane Valley Rail Trails as a world-class tourism asset

Overview

Action 4.2: Progress strategic planning for the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail that will consider marketing opportunities, planning and prioritisation of proposed infrastructure upgrades and governance arrangements.

Lead agency: Department of Transport and Main Roads

Status: Complete

Achievements

In April 2021, we released the 5-year Brisbane Valley Rail Trail Strategic Plan as a blueprint for the future management, ongoing development and marketing of the trail.

The strategic plan outlines 36 actions targeting four strategic outcomes:

• sustainable infrastructure upgrades
• integrated governance, management, maintenance and partnerships
• effective communication, marketing and promotion
• strong economic and community development.

We completed several short-term actions including:

• investing almost $1 million in a new trailhead facility at Grace Street, Wulkuraka, functioning as the southern Brisbane Valley Rail Trail terminus
• investing $1.25 million for the rehabilitation of Coal Creek bridge
• investing $720,000 in surface repairs between Lockyer Creek Bridge to Coominya and sections between Esk to Toogoolawah
• investing $184,000 in six new shade shelters with seating, and the installation of seating under four existing shelters that previously had no seating
• a marketing and communication strategy to run through until 2025
• a new website and improved online promotion, resulting in more than 1.5 million people viewing our social media campaign
• creating governance committees to include key stakeholders in strategic decision-making.

Trail user numbers have increased up to 32% each year, with Fernvale recording more than 50,000 trail users in 2021.

Next steps

We will continue to deliver the short- and medium-term actions identified in the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail Strategic Plan, including working with key stakeholders to identify improvements needed to position the rail trail as a world-class tourism asset.