Flood damage to a major suburban Brisbane bikeway is expected to cost millions to repair after the deluge wiped out a large section of the popular bike track.
Brisbane City Council is now considering how to rebuild the Kedron Brook Bikeway through Stafford and Grange, after the floodwaters gouged out a crater into the brook's banks and destroyed a large section of the concrete pathway and infrastructure.
Transport committee chair Ryan Murphy said while most of the city's bikeways were reopened and safe, Kedron Brook would take months and millions of dollars to repair.
"This is something we have to factor into council's budget bill going forward.
"The other thing we need to consider is uplift. Kedron Brook gets inundated even at a moderate flood level in Brisbane, so we're having a really good look at where we want to build back better in Kedron Brook."
Repairs to impact other bikeway upgrades
Kedron Brook Bikeway stretches between Mitchelton and Toombul and is a key connection for residents in Everton Park, Stafford, Grange, Gordon Park, Lutwyche and Kedron.
Mr Murphy said the cost of the damage to the bikeway could impact other planned bikeway upgrades around the city, such as the North Brisbane Bikeway, with Kedron Brook's repairs expected to take up to 18 months.
He said the bikeway damage was complicated by the proximity of houses along the brook's banks, and the fact that the brook's course had changed several times, not just during the most recent floods.
"We're working very closely with the state government on where we'll be allowed to move the bikeway, potentially," he said.
"It will likely have to be out of the inundation zone all together, and in some parts of Kedron Brook Bikeway that brings the bikeway much closer to houses, it brings the bikeway much higher."
Mr Murphy said business cases were being developed by the council to seek more federal funding for the restoration of Kedron Brook.
The council has previously warned that the impacts of the floods to council-owned infrastructure could be up to $300 million, more than the 2011 floods.
