South East Queensland bottlenecks to be fixed

The Council of Mayors (SEQ) in Canberra lobbying Steven Ciobo MP, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, for action on the state's road traffic bottlenecks.

The Federal and Queensland governments have finally agreed to join forces to fix the worst road traffic bottlenecks in the state’s southeast.

 The announcement of a $500 million Federal and State roads package, the majority of which was focused on the state’s south east corner, followed a two day delegation in Canberra where the South East Queensland (SEQ) Mayors identified the M1 and Mt Lindesay Highway as immediate priority projects.

 Council of Mayors (SEQ) Chair Councillor Graham Quirk said the SEQ Mayors had been pushing for action on these notorious stretches of road for a number of years, and it was promising to see progress for SEQ’s commuters.

 “The Council of Mayors (SEQ) has been lobbying for a fix for the Pacific Motorway and Mt Lindesay for many years, and they’ve been a specific focus of our latest advocacy efforts in Canberra. To secure a commitment to fix some of the region’s worst bottlenecks is a massive win for SEQ.”

 City of Logan Mayor Luke Smith said the announcement of upgrades to the Pacific Motorway and Mt Lindesay Highway was a win for the residents and business of Logan and SEQ.

 “The Logan community has been waiting for years for these upgrades so this announcement is a positive step for the 145,000 commuters who travel the M1 every day.

 “It’s a relief to finally see some progress being made on these priority projects, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on what these upgrades will look like and how they’ll be delivered in the coming months and years.

 “We still need a fully costed business case for upgrading the Mt Lindesay Highway from Browns Plains to Beaudesert rather than piecemeal solutions along the way so we will continue to campaign hard for that.

 “The announcement from the Federal and State governments is certainly good news for the region, but we’ve still got a long way to go before we start seeing some real relief for SEQ’s commuters. The SEQ Mayors will continue to watch closely as the full details for these upgrades emerge.”

 The M1 Pacific Motorway and Mt Lindesay Highway upgrades were recently listed as priority projects for SEQ as part of the Council of Mayors’ (SEQ) 2017 Federal Advocacy Document, Smart, Sustainable and Safe: South East Queensland’s Collaborative Future.