Queensland Budget: Sunshine Coast major road and rail projects get $140m this year
A major Sunshine Coast road project has been hit with delays as the state government comes under fire for what has been described as a lack of spending on rail.
Sunshine Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sunshine Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
More than $140m will be pumped into Sunshine Coast major road and rail upgrades this year, while a key project has been hit with delays.
The 2022-23 Queensland budget revealed spending on the $430m Mooloolah River Interchange will be half of what was expected just 12 months ago.
The budget included $25m for the Mooloolah River Interchange, $41.8m towards Beerburrum to Nambour rail works, $51.5m for Maroochydore and Mons Rds Bruce Hwy interchange upgrades and $22.5m for Bells Creek Arterial Rd.
Last year the government was projected to splash $50m on the Mooloolah River Interchange in 2022-23.
But Transport Minister Mark Bailey said the project had been delayed due to weather, flu and Covid outbreaks impacting workforces and supply chain shortages.
New figures show $254m would be spent on the key Mooloolaba and surrounds road upgrade, touted to slash travel times between northern and southern Sunshine Coast suburbs, between 2024-26.
“We forecast wet weather into our forward schedule, but no one could have anticipated the record level of rain we’ve seen,” Mr Bailey said.
“This has impacted the start of works on the Mooloolah River Interchange as we finish a major upgrade of the Maroochydore Rd and Mons Rd interchanges which is on track to be completed next year.”
The budget included $3.5m this year for Beerwah to Maroochydore heavy rail planning.
Kawana MP Jarrod Bleijie slammed the government for not including any commitment towards building the CAMCOS rail, which would extend heavy rail to Maroochydore.
“This rail line from Beerwah to Caloundra to Kawana and Maroochydore would connect the Sunshine Coast to southeast Queensland in preparation for the Olympics,” Mr Bleijie said.
Fairfax MP Ted O’Brien and Fisher MP Andrew Wallace said the budget included no “new rail projects”
“What we have … (is) no funding, no commitment and no new ideas,” Mr Wallace said.
Maroochydore MP Fiona Simpson said delays to the Maroochydore rail extension could risk the $1.6bn in federal funding.
The state government would spend $3.5m this year on the planning study and $1.25m next year.
The majority of the $1.6bn federal funding was budgeted to be spent after 2026.
Mr Bailey said the federal LNP “failed to deliver a single new rail sleeper” on the Sunshine Coast when it was in power for almost a decade.
‘Come on dog’: Trial begins over haymaker punch outside pub
A jury will decide whether a man’s action were in self-defence after he punched another person outside a Sunshine Coast tavern who had allegedly circled and barked at him like a dog.
‘Goat track’: Debate sparks over road upgrade after horror head-on
Debate surrounding the duplication of a busy stretch of the Sunshine Motorway has reignited following the death of a woman in a head-on collision, while candidates keep quiet on the project’s future.