Palaszczuk Labor inaction means Gold Coast M1 suffers

22 Jul 2016 8:14 AMMichael Hart

 

Palaszczuk Labor inaction means Gold Coast M1 suffers

 

Member for Burleigh, Michael Hart has called on Gold Coast Council and the Palaszczuk Labor Government to stop the politics on M1 funding and commit to fixing the problem.

 

Mr Hart said Main Roads Minister Bailey was incapable of having a serious conversation about the future of the M1 and is having the equivalent of a political tantrum.

 

“The Minister and Mayor must look at this as more than a fight over funding a single project and instead think about how we can solve the congestion problems across the coast,” Mr Hart said.

 

“Upgrading the Mudgeeraba to Exit 85 stretch on the M1 isn’t going to solve anything by itself, we don’t want to just push traffic further south.

 

“The M1 between Burleigh and Palm Beach is already a heavily congested bottleneck so this will only see it become a total carpark.

 

“I would be interested in the government and council putting together a holistic plan for our traffic issues.

 

“The Gold Coast will continue to grow and a patchwork of projects isn’t the solution.

 

‘We all need to advocate for, and commit to, fixing the whole problem, not just moving it to the next section of road.”

 

The State Budget handed down in June allocated just $10 million for planning the M1 (Mudgeeraba to Exit 85) project with no mention of the 20% needed in the funding arrangement the Palaszczuk Labor Government are seeking.

 ENDS 22 July 2016

 

Contact: Renee Whitehead 07 5560 4100