Ninderry MP Dan Purdie and community leaders have said enough is enough, and are calling on Transport Minister Mark Bailey to fast-track funding and start construction on long overdue road safety upgrades in Coolum.
Mr Purdie, together with Coolum State School P&C and Coolum Business and Tourism are urging the community to sign a petition calling on the State Government to allocate funding in the upcoming State Budget.
Mr Purdie said fixing the roundabout to improve safety and bust congestion had been his top priority since he was elected in 2017.
“While we welcome the State Government’s investment of $1.75million for further planning and consultation, enough is enough – the time for action is now,” Mr Purdie said.
Mr Purdie said the State Labor government had first announced plans to address the traffic congestion and upgrade the Motorway back in 2008.
“Since then, our population has grown exponentially, and too many lives have been lost on our roads.
Coolum State School P&C President Shane Urban said the safety of students was paramount.
“The 1000+ students of our 100-year-old school along with parents and guardians, teachers, staff and citizens of the greater Coolum area, are all being negatively impacted by the transport infrastructure that hasn’t kept in line with the remarkable growth in our region,” Mr Urban said.
“We appreciate the consultation that authorities have had with our school community including surveys and our own ST Travel committee but to keep our students safe, we would like to see a commitment to the start of the construction of the duplication of the Motorway.
Mr Urban said the duplication is expected to be from the Mudjimba interchange to the Peregian Springs roundabout including the southern access from the motorway to Suncoast Beach Drive and fixing the bottlenecks of the two roundabouts leading into Coolum from the Motorway.
He said this would serve to not only assist Coolum State School traffic movement, but also Peregian Springs State School, St Andrews College, Coolum State High as well as Coolum Christian College and Peregian Beach College.
It would also take the stress off local residents using the only Motorway access to and from Coolum which runs directly past the primary school, he said.
“We ask that a priority be placed on these works to best protect all of our road users.”
Coolum Business and Tourism President Mark Cameron said the local road network could no longer sustain the rapid growth of the population, and the regional economy.
“Since 2006 the community has been pleading for these road improvements, not only to improve safety but to meet the needs of a fast growing Coolum region. It’s time to get this off the ‘To Do’ list and just get it done,” Mr Cameron said.
The petition will be tabled in Parliament during Budget Week, in two weeks time, and is available at https://queensland.typeform.com/to/wcUHTWC7