Instead of URI::Escape, you can use URI::URL:

 use URI::URL;

 my $u=URI::URL->new('/myscript.cgi');
 $u->query_form(query=>q(what's up doc?), page => 2);

 print $u->as_string,"\n";
[download]

prints:

/myscript.cgi?query=what's+up+doc%3F&page=2
[download]

-- 
        dakkar - Mobilis in mobile