LABOR PAINS ON M1 FUNDING

THE M1 funding debate is a political car crash for Labor’s Murray Watt. The Southportbased Senator has no option but to back ALP leader Bill Shorten’s stance on a 50-50 funding deal for the Pacific Motorway. Put on the spot on Coast ABC radio after the Federal Budget, Senator Watt made it clear he was for a 50-50 split, and will not be helping State Labor get its preferred 80-20 deal from the Commonwealth.

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congestion debate has been about the M1 and the political argument about how much the federal and state governments will tip in to fund a $2 billion fix to widen it to eight lanes to Tugun.

But the biggest challenge for workers headed to the tourist strip and parents going to drop off their children for schools is getting on to the motorway.

Looking east from the roundabout where Mr Crandon stands, the traffic along Yalwalpah Rd is at a standstill. Where are these cars coming from? The line-up of stalled vehicles stretches for several kilometres.

“Two kilometres east of here is the epicentre of the fastest growing region in Queensland and fourth fastest in Australia,” he says.

Just after 8am on a weekday, the traffic on the local road is at standstill.

Decades ago Pimpama was idyllic, with dairy cattle grazing in the paddocks and among the rolling green hills of farmland. There was a tight school community on the western side of the highway of fewer than 100 students.

Today, schools of 800 are expanding classroom blocks within years of being built.

The population of more than 8000 is growing about 2000 a year, a 35 per cent increase.

Motorists on the singlelane each way country road are waiting up to 35 minutes in the morning peak.

The solution? First priority has to be to build an extra lane, about 250m long. Later, a new link for a separate left lane to cut through south of the roundabout to the M1.

This means the council, with this ratepayer-owned road, and the State Government overseeing the highway interchanges, must work together.

“It’s a council and state government issue. The roundabout … and overpass here are a state government issue,” Mr Crandon says.

“We have been fighting for an upgrade for this particular Exit 49 overpass for a long time now. The other issue is Yalwalpah Rd. I’ve run petitions on it.

“They’ve been knocked back. There’s been some talk about some eventual solution some time down the road. But that’s not good enough.”

The Bulletin is about to relaunch a ‘Golden Age’ campaign, to build on the city’s success from the Commonwealth Games.

A good start would be laying 250m of bitumen to kickstart the road infrastructure necessary so workers can get to work and parents can drive their kids to school on time.