Planning is in progress to enhance a key stretch of road that is used by more than 50,000 vehicles a day and is plagued by crashes.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads is preparing to upgrade an 8km section of the Sunshine Motorway between the Mooloolah River and the Maroochy River.
The state government has invested $2.497 million to identify staged improvements.
A department spokesperson said it could ultimately “improve efficiency, capacity and safety”.
“This planning will consider how to resolve growing merging and weaving issues on the motorway to protect its function as an intra-regional motorway,” they said.
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“Interchanges and connections to the Maroochydore city centre, Mooloolaba and Buderim will be considered.
“Planning will also identify staged improvements and align with other projects in the study area, including the proposed Mooloolah River Interchange and Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line projects to deliver an integrated transport network.
“Community feedback provided in late 2021 reinforced the need to address congestion and connectivity in the area and will inform future planning.”
The stretch of road is among the busiest on the Sunshine Coast, with more than 50,000 vehicles on it per day, and it has been a hotspot for incidents.
There were 103 crashes in the area from 2019 to 2023.
A 31-year-old man died after crashing near the motorway on-ramp at the Mooloolaba intersection in 2022.
There were 133 injuries, including 39 that required hospitalisation, during those five years.
But it’s not yet known how upgrades will be paid for.
“There is no funding allocated for detailed planning, design or construction,” the spokesperson said.
“Funding to progress further planning for the priority needs will be considered against other infrastructure priorities across the state.
“TMR will keep the community updated as the project progresses.”
The stretch of road’s southern end connects to the Mooloolah River Interchange, which was earmarked for a major overhaul but is now in doubt because of a lack of funding.
Meanwhile, there are plans for a section of the proposed Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line to run alongside the stretch of motorway but initial plans to build it by 2032 are in doubt, mainly because of a lack of funding and construction complexities.
Both of those projects were recently excluded from the federal funding list by Infrastructure Australia, which is an advisory group to the Australian Government.
Maroochydore MP Fiona Simpson said in state parliament recently that the Sunshine Coast deserved significant transport solutions ahead of the 2032 Games.
“It is vitally important to get the rail, the road and all of the public transport upgrades that are necessary, not only for today’s needs but also for future needs,” she said.
“It was so disappointing when the federal Labor Party pulled the funding on a critical piece of infrastructure, a piece of bottleneck-unlocking infrastructure: the Mooloolah River Interchange.
“It threw into chaos all the transport planning for the Sunshine Coast.
“It needs to be addressed.
“That is what we are fighting for – to see funding for those projects restored, not only for the Mooloolah River Interchange, which is at the nexus of the whole network, but also for future priorities for rail.”
But a federal Department of Infrastructure spokesperson recently told Sunshine Coast News the government “recognises the importance of connecting the growing Sunshine Coast”.
“We’re making major investments such as our $2.75 billion commitment for Stage 1 of Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line project (which includes building a rail line from Beerwah to Caloundra),” they said.
“Other investments include $5 million for the Southern Sunshine Coast Roads Improvement Study, which includes planning for a new major road connection (the Kawana Motorway) and planning for upgrades to the Caloundra Road, Kawana Way Link Road and Bells Creek Arterial Road intersection and $5 million for the Sunshine Coast Public Transport study.”
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The spokesperson said it was still possible that transport projects would receive further funding.
“We will continue to work with the Queensland Government to deliver priority land transport infrastructure for all Queenslanders,” they said.
“Should the Queensland Government wish to seek further funding for the Direct Sunshine Coast Rail Line, it would be considered as part of future budget processes.”
