The notorious M1 bottleneck on the southern Gold Coast can now be fixed, with the Federal Government making a significant $1 billion commitment to get the job done, Federal Member for McPherson Karen Andrews has announced.
“After a long and hard fight, this is great news for local residents and I’m delighted that we are now in a position to get the job finished that was started in 2007 – and upgrade the M1 through to Tugun,” Mrs Andrews said.
“The $1 billion is on top of $110 million we secured in 2016 to fix the section from Mudgeeraba to Varsity Lakes. Major works on that section will start after the Commonwealth Games, so it’s fitting that we can now look to complete the next section from Varsity to Tugun as swiftly as possible with the funding being provided in the Federal Budget next month.”
Mrs Andrews thanked the thousands of local residents who had joined her campaign and signed her online petition for their help and has called on the State Government to “proceed without delay”.
“It’s the State Government’s job to jointly fund and to manage the project to completion and ensure that Gold Coasters are not forced to endure lengthy delays.”
“The Federal Government has now put $1 billion on the table – that’s 1,000 million dollars – to ensure we get this vital upgrade and that the bottleneck at Eight Miles Plains further north is sorted out as well. These are two crucial projects and we’re serious about getting them both fixed. I sincerely hope the State Government is too.”
Mrs Andrews said that she was proud to have lobbied Federal Ministers and the Prime Minister to secure the significant Commonwealth funding commitment for our local community.
“But I won’t rest until we know that works are underway. I’ll keep up the pressure to make sure that the upgrade happens quickly and seamlessly through to Tugun.”
