M1 hell ‘makes me want to move’

Commuters left fuming

A FRUSTRATED motorist says the daily gridlock on the M1 is making her want to leave the Gold Coast after 40 years.

Christine Winter was one of thousands of drivers caught in two accidents on the Pacific Motorway yesterday, spanning a collective 28 kilometres over four hours.

“It was very frustrating, especially given I was an hour late for work in the morning,” the Pacific Pines resident said.

“I cannot believe the highway gets shut down by just one accident.

“I was born on the Gold Coast 40 years ago and it makes me want to move.”

Ms Winter works for a hullage company at Ormeau and her morning commute on a good day is 20 minutes. Yesterday, it took nearly four times that.

Her return home, marred by the second accident, took 45 minutes.

The early morning crash yesterday, at 4.30am, was caused by a northbound truck losing a load of beer bottles at Yatala. Traffic banked up for 20km for four hours.

The afternoon accident, at 2.40pm, was caused by a truck jackknifing and hitting a ute. Traffic was stretched for eight kilometres for an hour.

Asked how they would fix the M1 mess in the city’s north, state political leaders threw mud at other each’s inability to fund a solution in the past 20 years.

Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates slammed the State Government, which she said had no solution to M1 congestion.

“We have not heard a peep out of them and they are hoping on a wing and a prayer that the Commonwealth Games does not become an international traffic debacle,” she said. “They have no plan to alleviate the gridlock for the Gold Coast’s northern suburbs.”

A proposal for a second M1 was mooted during last year’s state election by the Opposition while the State Government put forward funding to widen the southern lanes of the M1 to the border from four to six lanes.

A spokesman for Transport and Main Roads Minister Mark Bailey said plans were in place to upgrade infrastructure on the M1 in the city’s north.

“When in government, the LNP failed to spend a single cent on new M1 upgrades and unlike the LNP, the Palaszczuk Government has not and will not ignore Gold Coasters and we’re putting the M1 first,” he said.

“We are also progressing planning for the upgrade of various interchanges on the M1 including exits 38 (Yatala North), 41 (Yatala South), 45 (Ormeau), and 49 (Pimpama).

“We will also spend $25 million to upgrade the Oxenford interchange (Exit 57) and $16 million on a business case for upgrades between Eight Mile Plains and the Logan Motorway.”