AN extra $2.5 million has been allocated to the pool of federal and state funds for an upgrade of the key transport corridor in the Jimboomba-Beaudesert region.
The sum for the Mount Lindesay Highway was announced in this week’s federal budget, and will be cleared during the 2017-18 financial year.
The amount will stretch to a total of $10m in extra federal funding for the project, which has been dogged by delays and debate between state and federal governments.
A joint funding measure of $20m was announced in March, with the majority of the money coming from federal funds.
The planned upgrade is still short on detail, although it’s anticipated to focus on sections of the highway highlighted as safety hotspots in a Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) study.
In March, the state government indicated lane widening between Browns Plains and Beaudesert would also be a priority.
Logan MP Linus Power said at the time that the funding announcement was a step in the right direction, considering state and federal governments were working together to fund the project.
“The fact that the federal government see this as a road of national significance will make a big difference for the people who use the Mount Lindesay,” he said.
But the news of further funding in the national budget comes during ongoing bitter debate between the Palaszczuk government and the federal government over infrastructure spending in Queensland.
Projects such as $5.4 billion Brisbane Cross River Rail Tunnel were the focus of calls from federal treasurer Scott Morrison for the Palaszczuk government to prepare a “proven” business case before federal funding could be allocated.
