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Category: Transport / Road Transport / Federal Elections

Turnbull makes $215m pledge to upgrade M1

Wednesday, 22 Jun 2016 10:42:28 | Andrew Greene

Mr Turnbull (r) visited the M1 with local member Bert van Manen last year. (AAP Image: Glenn Hunt - file photo)

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will today commit $215 million to upgrade the M1 Motorway, however the State Government says it is not enough.

The money will go towards upgrading congestion hot spots for the estimated 144,000 motorists who each day use the motorway, which connects Brisbane to the Gold Coast.

Mr Turnbull called on Queensland to match his funding commitment.

"We're putting up half the money, it's their road, and they put up the other half and do the work so really it's up to them as to how quickly it starts," Mr Turnbull told radio station Triple M.

"The sooner the better and now that the money's on the table I think it'll be fast."

Under Mr Turnbull's pledge, the M1 between Mudgeeraba and Varsity Lakes would be upgraded as well as between Eight Mile Plains and Springwood, including the Gateway merge.

Modelling reveals in the coming 15 years the number of motorists who will use those stretches of the M1 will increase by a further 30,000.

For years Queenslanders have moaned about the "carpark" which comes to a standstill at peak times, cruelling productivity and testing the patience of motorists.

The funding will boost the chances of Bert van Manen holding the seat of Forde, which has a margin of 4.4 per cent.

State wants 80-20 split

Queensland Treasurer Curtis Pitt said Mr Turnbull's pledge breaks with the tradition of a 80-20 funding split with states, and commuters should feel let down.

"It seems that the Turnbull Government — and even the Abbott Government — have been making a real habit of this, changing the rules to try and make 50-50 arrangements in place when they should be sticking to the long-held run of 80-20," he said.

Queensland Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said across the border in NSW the Federal Government paid for 80 per cent of the same type of projects on the Pacific Highway.

"We've got a New South Welshman trying to rip off Queensland on State of Origin," Mr Bailey said.

"It's totally unacceptable; they ought to correct this measly announcement."

Mr Turnbull's announcement trump's Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's pledge in April.

Federal Labor's $168 million plan would be spent on building an extra southbound lane on the M1 between Eight Mile Plains and Springwood.

RACQ's Paul Turner said if the Federal Government chipped in 80 per cent of the funding it would ensure the work gets done.

"What we don't want is a model where we're having a barney between two levels of government for the next three years over who funds it and how it gets done," he said.

"An 80-20 tends to make that happen, any state government who walks away from and 80-20 split is crazy."

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