I have approved funding for additional works on the Kwinana Freeway and Great Eastern Highway, which will no doubt be welcomed by the 54,000 motorists and drivers who use these roads every day.
The package of works will widen the Kwinana Freeway between the Roe Highway and Armadale Road to three lanes and upgrade its on and off-ramps.  In addition, we will rebuild and widen the Great Eastern Highway between Walgoolan and Coolgardie.
Tenders will be called in coming months, with the projects to be funded using savings achieved on earlier projects.  That means this Federal Labor Government is delivering above and beyond what we initially promised.
Together, these improvements will deliver safer, smoother and less congestion driving conditions.  Both roads are vital freight routes connecting Fremantle Port and the industrial estates east of the City with the mining and agricultural industries of the Wheatbelt and Goldfields-Esperance regions.
These new, additional projects add to the unprecedented $6.9 billion capital works program currently being rolled out across Western Australia by this Federal Labor Government.  In fact compared to the Howard Government we have more than doubled spending from $115 to $240 per Western Australian.
This includes funding for earlier widening works along the Great Eastern Highway from Rivervale to Redcliffe ($58 million) as well as on the Kwinana Freeway between the Leach and Roe highways ($42.2 million).
From the outset Federal Labor’s mission has been to reverse the neglect we inherited and invest in the modern, well-planned infrastructure which makes working people’s lives easier, our businesses more competitive and the national economy stronger.
We are building the infrastructure that will stand the test of time.