Both major parties say they have allocated $15 million towards an upgrade of one of the Sunshine Coast’s busiest intersections.
The Opposition on Monday announced the commitment to improve the Sugar Road and Mooloolaba Road junction, if elected next month.
The state government on Monday also told Sunshine Coast News it had already allocated the same amount to the crossroads, but that it would cost significantly more to make the project become reality.
More than 25,000 vehicles travel through the intersection each day and traffic can be banked up for a kilometre at times.
LNP Member for Buderim Brent Mickelberg said it was in critical need of improvements.
“The LNP’s commitment to an intersection upgrade will help ease a traffic chokepoint on the Sunshine Coast and help local drivers get to work or school on time and back home to their families quicker,” he said.
“I have been fighting for this intersection to be upgraded since before I was first elected in 2017.
“I tabled a petition in Parliament calling on Labor to urgently start the upgrade only for the pleas of our community to be ignored.”
The Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Bart Mellish, told SCN that $15 million in funding was already assigned to the upgrade but it would cost more to deliver it.
“The LNP are trying to take credit for Labor’s investment,” he said.
“Fifteen million dollars in funding remains allocated for the Sugar Road upgrade.”
“However, initial feedback from industry suggests the cost for the interim upgrade would be well above $15 million.
“Is the Member for Buderim committing to deliver half a project, or starting something that he can’t finish without cutting another project?”
SCN reported last year that the state government had plans to upgrade the intersection but they were put on hold, with TMR blaming market conditions.
Design work for an interim project to upgrade the junction was completed in 2022 and work was scheduled to start in mid-2023, but a TMR spokesperson said the scope of the works was being reconsidered.
Minister Mellish on Monday confirmed that was the case but money was still set aside for it.
“TMR has completed design work and is now considering the scope of this interim upgrade to align with planning investigations into a long-term solution to improve traffic flow and safety on the Sunshine Motorway, from Mooloolah River to Maroochy River, including the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line project,” he said.
The aerial imagery in this story is from Australian location intelligence company Nearmap. The company provides government organisations, architectural, construction and engineering firms, and other companies, with easy, instant access to high-resolution aerial imagery, city-scale 3D content, artificial intelligence data sets, and geospatial tools to assist with urban planning, monitoring and development projects in Australia, New Zealand and North America.
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