The Australian and Queensland Governments today started work on the most important roads project in south-east Queensland – the Ipswich Motorway upgrade.

At the sod-turning ceremony in Darra today, the Australian Government announced $700 million for the Stage 1 of the Wacol to Darra project, which will initially upgrade three kilometres of the Motorway, starting with the interchange at Centenary Highway.

The population of south-east Queensland is booming, with an estimated 80,000 cars and trucks using the Ipswich Motorway alone every day.

Without action urban congestion in Australia is set to cost nearly $20 billion in lost productivity by 2020, Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics estimates show.

It is unacceptable that many working parents now spend more time commuting than with their children.

After less than 100 days in office, the Rudd Labor Government is ending 12 years of neglect by delivering a $700 million injection of funds for the Ipswich Motorway.

Once completed, the upgraded motorway from Wacol to Darra is expected to:

· improve the Ipswich Motorway to six lanes;

· clear congestion by eliminating the Centenary Highway roundabout and replacing it with a new high-standard interchange, including on-and off-ramps;

· take around 20 per cent of vehicles off the motorway by building new service roads that can cater for local or cross-suburb trips;

· provide a safer motorway, with wider lanes and road shoulders, and a straighter, flatter road that meets modern standards; and
create bicycle lanes and pedestrian paths along the Motorway to encourage alternative transport.

Over the next five years, the Australian and Queensland Governments will undertake a staged upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway from Darra to Dinmore as part of our plan to address urban congestion and improve freight access in the south-east.

As part of this plan, work is well advanced on the upgrade of the Logan and Ipswich Motorway interchange and due to be completed in 2009.

We have also stopped work on the former federal government’s Goodna Bypass and started modelling and geotechnical investigations on the upgrade of the Ipswich Motorway from Dinmore to Goodna.

The Rudd Labor Government is determined to bring a fresh approach to infrastructure development in south-east Queensland and across Australia.

Australia’s freight task is set to double in 20 years and our over-stretched road networks require significant investment and national leadership.

We have established Infrastructure Australia, an independent statutory body which will develop an Infrastructure Priority List to guide billions of dollars of public and private investment into clearing bottlenecks and urban congestion around Australia.

For the first time in more than a decade, the Australia and Queensland Governments will work in partnership to boost Queensland productive economic capacity.