Re-elected federal member for Wright Scott Buchholz may soon be putting his money where his mouth is.
The state government has welcomed Mr Buchholz’s election campaign commitment of providing $10 million for safety upgrades of the Mount Lindesay Highway.
A Transport and Main Roads spokesperson said they were determining the most suitable and beneficial projects with the $10 million funding commitment and would be submitting a project proposal to the federal government for endorsement in the coming months.
“We have a long-term plan for the highway, south to Jimboomba, which includes widening the existing two-lane carriageway to a four-lane high-standard road with limited access service roads and strategically located signalised intersections,” the spokesperson said.
The beleaguered highway has been allocated funding of $700,000 in the 2016-17 and 2017-18 financial years to undertake planning and develop detailed project business cases for future upgrades.
The state has also pledged that future funding of the Mount Lindesay Highway will be considered against other competing priorities across the state.
The Mount Lindesay Highway is number three on the RACQ’s unroadworthy roads list.
RACQ’s senior traffic and safety engineer Greg Miszkowycs, said with just one star away from receiving the lowest Ausrap rating, it is a road in desperate need of infrastructure.
Residents and community advocates have been growing increasingly frustrated with the “band-aid” approach whereby the highway had been receiving attention.
Logan mayor Luke Smith, in his advocacy for the Mount Lindesay Highway to receive national recognition and priority funding, said a business case was necessary to upgrade the highway in its entirety.
“It’s encouraging to see that the state will be utilising the federal funding commitment,” he said.
“I sincerely hope it will be put toward a business case for the upgrade of the entire highway.”
As a result of the Mount Lindesay Highway Safety Review that was undertaken in the second half of 2015, $4.1 million in funding was provided for projects at Veresdale Scrub Road and Gleneagle State School access at Gleneagle and Undullah Road at Woodhill.
Under the Safer Roads Sooner program the intersection of the Mount Lindesay Highway and Camp Cable Road is currently underway and expected to be completed later in 2016.
A $2.256 million project along the highway 4km south of Beaudesert which includes shoulder widening and the installation of a wide centre line treatment for a one-kilometre section is expected to start later this year.
