If you are fed up with congested motorways and prolonged travel delays while travelling on the Mount Lindesay Highway, you are not the only one.
Logan City Council has acted on the tediously slow upgrade of the 116 km strip, and reminded both state and federal governments of the reasons why an overhaul of the highway is necessary.
City Treasurer Trevina Schwarz told the Times that the governing body approached government representatives during a visit to Parliament this month.
She said she asked when the $10 million coalition boost for Mount Lindesay Highway upgrade – as promised throughout the federal election – will be put into play and if the state government would match it.
“With the first business development at Bromelton opening in 2017, and the communities at Yarrabilba and Flagstone growing, the Mount Lindesay Highway cannot cater for the amount of traffic that is expected to come over the next few years,” Cr Schwarz said.
“It’s struggling as it is and what we have is still classified as a rural highway, and that’s what we wanted the government to understand.
“We explained the pressure the highway was under and the impacts an upgrade would have on our community if it was and wasn’t done.
“We wanted them to know that we weren’t going to sit back and wait for something to happen.
“We need a business plan done now, and we need some confirmation and confidence for our residents that there is a plan on the table.”
Beaudesert MP Jon Krause believed the Palaszczuk government should be doing more to improve the Mount Lindesay Highway, and said road rehabilitation between Jimboomba and Beaudesert was a priority for the former LNP government.
“In a recent public meeting, the Member for Logan stated that the government (was going to provide) funding of around $35 million for the Mount Lindesay Highway in this year’s budget.
“I understand this figure includes the $27.5 million allocated to the Beaudesert Town Centre Bypass – funding that was actually allocated by the LNP Government in October 2014 – so for the government to claim that this represents part of their spending on the highway is simply not true,” he said.
Logan MP Linus Power told the Times that he would “continue to put forward the case for further funding for the Mount Lindesay Highway”.
“The Palaszczuk government is currently going through its budget processes to develop the next State Budget,” he said.
“The state government is working to identify projects that will deliver the best improvements with the funding available – we’re currently partway through a $790,000 planning project.
“I was pleased that last week I had the Minister down here so he could see some of the issues firsthand.”
