Springfield commute made easy by road and rail

Springfield motorists and rail passengers are getting home to their families more quickly and more safely following the completion of the Centenary Highway upgrade and two new train stations.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson joined Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale to celebrate the completion of the $475 million Richlands to Springfield project today.

“As part of our strong plan for better infrastructure we have increased capacity and improved safety for motorists on the Centenary Highway,” Mr Emerson said.

“When we came into office we reviewed spending for this project and were able to remove Labor’s gold plating and deliver greater benefits for the community – for the same money.

“After reviewing the project we were able to include two 5.5km lanes on the Centenary Highway between the Logan Motorway Interchange and Springfield Parkway, in addition to the Richlands to Springfield train line.

“Motorists have benefited from these additional lanes since they were completed last month and today signals the official completion of this major transport infrastructure project.”

Cr Pisasale said Ipswich City Council was proud to be able to work with the State Government to deliver 500 car parks at the Springfield Central station.

“The car parks were completed earlier this year and it is good to see that they are being well used by rail passengers,” he said.

Mr Emerson said the additional car parks fixed another Labor infrastructure mess after it failed to plan properly for the parking needs of passengers.

“These car parks are often more than 90 per cent full by the morning peak, proving Labor’s plan of building only 100 car parks would have fallen well short of the demand,” he said

“Patronage from the Springfield and Springfield Central train stations has continued to increase since they were opened in December last year.

“Combined, the two stations have seen passenger trips grow by 60 per cent, from 48,742 trips in December to 79,336 trips in May.

“Passengers at Springfield Central station will now also have a great appreciation of the Indigenous heritage of the region, with a display at the station showing replicas of artefacts found during early stages of the rail project.

“The display commemorates the rich history of the Yagara people in the Springfield area and the hundreds of stone tools and other indigenous artefacts found, including a fishing spear, hunting boomerang, stone axe, chisel, dilly bag and 3000-year-old earth oven.”

[ENDS] 3 July 2014

Media contact: Sarah Henderson 0409 827 773