Motorway speeds up

A WEEK after all lanes were finally opened on the revamped Ipswich Motorway, the speed limit will be raised to 100kmh.

Tens of thousands of commuters move into the fast lane as the Ipswich Motorway speed limit rises to 100kmh tonight. . Picture: Claudia Baxter

A WEEK after all lanes were finally opened on the revamped Ipswich Motorway, the speed limit will be raised to 100kmh.

The speed limit will be increased from 90kmh tonight, weather permitting, a Department of Main Roads spokeswoman said.

This speed change will be the final part of the four-year-long motorway upgrade; the erection of the 100kmh signs being the final work performed as part of the road improvement.

The Brisbane-bound on-ramp at Goodna is also expected to be opened tonight.

The increase in speed limit will reduce the commute time for 95,000 car drivers who use the motorway each day.

That number is expected to nearly double to 180,000 cars daily within the next 20 years.

Member for Blair Shayne Neumann said the federally-funded upgrade was a huge benefit to the people of Ipswich.

"I think that's the right move to increase the speed limit to 100," Mr Neumann said.

"People are used to driving at 110kmh to the Gold Coast so the increase here is something I think people will be expecting.

"Time is money for business so reducing the time taken to get from Ipswich to Brisbane and vice versa will be a real benefit for economic development."

Goodna-based councillor Paul Tully said the completion of the upgrade was a long time coming for Ipswich.

"I can remember back before the motorway even existed, when it was just Brisbane Rd and Ipswich Rd," he said.

"They used to call it the glorified goat track.

"It's a fair bit better than that now. It's a good connection between the two cities."

Cr Tully said the full opening of the Goodna on-ramp meant motorists would be able to enter the motorway without having to criss-cross between traffic moving to exit on to the Logan Motorway.

Mr Neumann said he was continuing to lobby for the upgrade of the Darra to Rocklea section of the motorway with a meeting to be held in Canberra this week regarding the bottleneck.

"There are a lot of people who have road construction skills now, because of the Dinmore to Goodna upgrade, that didn't have them before," he said.

"I think their expertise, skills and talents would be put to good use in upgrading the stretch from Darra. I'm absolutely convinced it needs to happen and I'll be lobbying very hard for it."

Originally published as Motorway speeds up