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The Commonwealth and Queensland governments will host an industry briefing for prospective contractors this month as part of their plans to upgrade the Ipswich Motorway. Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albanese, and Queensland Main Roads Minister, Warren Pitt, today reaffirmed the Ipswich Motorway upgrade as their top priority for funding under the joint AusLink program for Queensland. The project will widen the existing motorway to a minimum of six lanes and construct a network of new service roads. Mr Albanese said the industry briefing would be held on 12 February and involve civil engineering companies interested in joining Main Roads in an alliance contract to design, manage and construct parts of the motorway upgrade. He said an alliance arrangement would allow a consortium of contractors to tackle a project that none would be able to handle individually in a short timeframe. "The Queensland Department of Main Roads will seek partners with suitable qualifications and experience in transport planning, motorway design, motorway construction, and the design and management of complex traffic staging, as well as community involvement," Mr Albanese said. Mr Pitt said geotechnical investigations had begun and traffic modelling predictions were being updated to ensure long-standing aims of improving safety and reliability within the existing motorway corridor could be met. He said the Ipswich Motorway upgrade represented a new era for co-operative transport planning between the state and the Australian Government. "Today is all about fulfilling a pledge to end the blame game and get on with the job of delivering this vital piece of infrastructure," he said. "Both governments have committed to working closely together to improve road conditions for national freight movements and interstate travellers, while also recognising benefits for commuters." Mr Pitt said advertisements seeking companies wishing to be involved in the project alliance would appear in local and national newspapers on 6 and 9 February.
Media Contacts
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Jeff Singleton (
Mr Albanese's Office ) |
0410 476 890
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(
Mr Pitt's Office ) |
(07) 3227 8819
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