M1 upgrade: When more lanes will open on the motorway

An update on the progress of the M1 upgrade from Mudgeeraba to Varsity Lakes has provided good news for motorists sick of being stuck in gridlock.

MOTORISTS sick of wasting their lives in gridlock have been told upgrade works to widen the M1 from Mudgeeraba to Varsity Lakes will wrap up in the next 12 months.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, who visited the site of the works at Reedy Creek today, said the upgrade will be finished by the middle of next year.

Mr McCormack was joined at the site by Member for McPherson Karen Andrews and Member for Moncrieff Angie Bell.

Ms Bell told a worker on the upgrade she couldn’t count “how many hours of my life I’ve wasted sitting on the M1”.

Member for McPherson Karen Andrews, Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack and Member for Moncrieff Angie Bell overlooking the M1 at Reedy Creek on Tuesday. Picture: Luke Mortimer

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Mr McCormack said the upgrade, which will widen a 5.7km section of the M1 from four to six lanes, would go a long way to “bust through congestion on the Gold Coast”.

When asked if the upgrade was a Band-Aid solution considering the rapidly growing population of southeast Queensland, Mr McCormack said he had been working with the State Government to work out “what else we can do” to cut gridlock.

Ms Bell said the upgrade would allow Glitter Strip residents to spend more time with family and friends, rather than stuck in traffic behind the wheel.

The project has created about 300 jobs.