Locals living along one of Brisbane’s busiest southside corridors are being asked to have their say on the future of the Fairfield Road roundabout, as a community survey opens on its potential upgrade.
Read: Fairfield Road in Yeronga: A Snapshot of Devastation After 1973 Tornado
Cr Nicole Johnston has released a draft concept plan for discussion purposes, along with a list of pros and cons to help residents think through what a change would actually mean for their daily lives.
A Busy Road With a Known Safety Problem
The roundabout sits on one of the southside’s major arterial roads. Fairfield Road carries around 26,000 vehicles a day, including trucks, and is formally designated under Brisbane’s road network as a principal cycling route despite having no dedicated bike lanes.
The crash data for the intersection makes for uncomfortable reading. Of roughly 2,700 intersections across Brisbane, the Fairfield Road and Venner Road roundabout ranks in the top 10 per cent for crash history. In fact, the nearby intersection of Fairfield Road and Hyde Road in Yeronga ranks even higher, in the top five per cent, and a cyclist has already lost their life there. Pedestrian and cyclist access at that location remains poor.
Further along, the intersection of Ipswich Road, Venner Road and Waterton Street in Annerley holds the grim distinction of being the highest ranked intersection in Tennyson Ward for crash history, sitting in the top one per cent across the whole of Brisbane. Cr Johnston has flagged it as her number one capital works request at every budget negotiation.
What’s Being Proposed
The roundabout is already listed on Brisbane’s capital works program for a future conversion to traffic lights but it currently sits low on the priority list. The survey is part of an effort to push for outcomes that reflect local needs as part of future road network projects.
Converting the roundabout to a four way signalised intersection would almost certainly mean closing one of its current access points, with Park Road the most likely candidate. To offset that, Cr Johnston has floated a complementary idea: extending Hyde Road through the now vacant flood buy-back blocks to connect with Park Road in Yeronga, creating a new east-west link that could also help ease congestion on the congested Cardross Street rail bridge.
Cr Johnston outlined both the potential benefits and drawbacks. On the plus side, traffic signals would require all vehicles to stop, giving pedestrians and cyclists formal crossing signals and fairer access for all connecting streets. On the downside, vehicles would be required to stop even when there are no oncoming vehicles, trees would be lost, and the closure of Park Road access would directly affect some households.
The draft concept plan makes clear these are ideas on the table, not decisions already made.
Why Local Input Matters
Community feedback gathered through the survey is intended to inform future road, pedestrian and cycling projects in the area, not to trigger immediate works. Cr Johnston has indicated the feedback will be used to push for outcomes that reflect local needs at future budget negotiations.
The Brisbane Southside BUG (Bicycle User Group) has also flagged the survey, noting the area sits on a busy arterial route with a well documented safety history, and encouraging anyone who cares about safer, better connected active transport on the southside to take a few minutes to respond.
Read: Grimes Family Legacy Lives on in Fairfield
Beyond the roundabout itself, the survey asks residents to rank their priorities for future transport investment in the area, including the Cardross Street rail bridge upgrade and improvements to the Ipswich Road and Venner Road intersection in Annerley.
The survey is open until 31 March 2026 and can be completed via Cr Johnston’s website.
Published 18-February-2026
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