I can’t wipe the smile off my face.
The hard work has paid off and I am very pleased to announce an upgrade to the M1-Gateway merge will be delivered, with work to start later this year.
The government has reached a deal with the Queensland Government to deliver two upgrades for M1 commuters that will ease congestion and help you get home quicker.
I am so very proud to tick another item off my election commitments to the people of Logan.
It would not have been possible without the great negotiating skills of our Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher.
As far as the funding deal goes, the Federal Government already provided funding - as promised during the 2016 election - and the Queensland Government will make up the difference.
However, the percentage of funding arrangement will be known at the end of month when final costings are completed.
Overall, the Australian and Queensland governments announced a roads package worth more than half a billion dollars for Queensland.
The Package includes:
• Six-laning of the Pacific Motorway (M1) – Mudgeeraba to Varsity Lakes
• A major upgrade of the M1/Gateway Motorway merge (southbound lanes) at Eight Mile Plains
• Construction of the Walkerston bypass near Mackay
• Widening of the Mt Lindesay Highway between Browns Plains and Beaudesert,
• Funding for the planning of the M1 – Varsity Lakes to Tugun.
The section between Eight Mile Plains and Springwood will result in significant upgrades for southbound traffic, with the M1 to be widened to five lanes from the Gateway Motorway merge past the Rochedale Road off-ramp.
Works will also include a new bus only ramp from School Road to south of Underwood Road.
I am proud to deliver this result for my electorate after campaigning heavily to upgrade the M1.
The Eight Mile Plains to Springwood upgrade is Stage 1 of a much bigger project I have been campaigning for, which is the widening of both the northbound and southbound lanes of the M1 between the Logan and Gateway Motorways.
While delivering a deal for Stage 1 is a great first start, I will continue the fight to secure funding to upgrade entire Logan stretch of the M1.
