Lucy Wicks (Robertson, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The final section in the suite of upgrades designed to deliver safer, better trips on the M1 Pacific Motorway is now complete, with the final stages of the upgrades between Tuggerah and Doyalson now open. It was great to be able to attend the official opening of the 12-kilometre section of the M1 over the weekend with some of my New South Wales state government colleagues—the Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, Paul Toole; and state member for Terrigal, Adam Crouch MP. The official opening of this stretch of road marks the completion of the expansion of the motorway from four to six lanes, which greatly reduces congestion and travel time.

The M1 Productivity Package, worth $391.6 million, has been jointly funded by the federal government and the New South Wales state government. It forms part of the federal government's 10-year infrastructure plan, which will be critical in helping our nation recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. This third stage of the M1 project follows vital upgrades to the eight-kilometre stretch of road from Kariong to Somersby in my electorate of Robertson, which opened in March 2020. The M1 upgrades have supported over 2,700 jobs throughout the delivery of the three stages of the project, with 75 per cent of these jobs going to local, Central Coast and Hunter residents, showing just how important infrastructure investment is in regional Australia in creating more jobs.

I'm pleased to advise that this project has been delivered more than six months ahead of schedule, and I thank my local community for their patience over the course of the upgrades. It's a project that will truly benefit more than 70,000— (Time expired)