LABOR IN $6B INFRASTRUCTURE VOW
A MASSIVE investment to the Gateway Motorway, Bruce Highway and Cross River Rail headlines an ambitious $6.3 billion road, rail, port and dam spend – and more announcements are expected to follow.
The infrastructure spend is not limited to southeast Queensland with projects announced from Cairns to the Gold Coast as well as a $500 million fund to upgrade 3000km of inland roads and upgrading 300 bridges.
Opposition leader Bill Shorten said money for the projects would start flowing in his first term.
“Our projects are not on the never-never, they’re locked into our first budget,” he said.
In the biggest new commitment, $1.5 billion has been set aside for upgrades to the Gateway Motorway and Bruce Highway in the southeast.
This will include widening the Gateway from four to six lanes. As the road is widened, an “intelligent transport system” will be built in to include variable speed limit signs, digital message signs and traffic monitoring cameras.
The Bruce Highway will get an upgrade at the Dohles Rock Road intersection, matching a Coalition commitment, as well as a new bridge to be built over the Pine River and four new feeder roads to take local traffic off the highway. Mr Shorten also recommitted to invest $2.24 billion into the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail, freeing up State Government funds.
A range of projects announced by the Coalition have been matched, neutralising the commitments in regional areas.
These include the Gold Coast light rail extension to Burleigh Heads, the Gladstone Port Access Road, Mackay Ring Road stage 2 and RockhamptonYeppoon Road duplication.
The Coalition has so far committed $4 billion into Queensland infrastructure, with the biggest difference being the lack of funds for the Cross River Rail.