FIX THIS KILLER STRETCH
HOLIDAYING UNI PALS WITH ‘BRIGHT FUTURES’ CUT SHORT Coast MP calls for fast, targeted works after 16 fatalities in six years
THE sister of one of four holidaying young adults robbed of “bright futures” in a horror Gold Coast headon say their lives were just starting and their deaths are “unspeakably tragic”.
Brisbane’s Courtney Smith, 20, and Kirsten Van Gorp, 22, with Townsville’s Lochlan Parker, 20 and Katrina McKeough, 21 were killed when the sedan Mazda 3 they were all in crashed into an oncoming ute on Nerang-Murwillumbah Road on Saturday.
Grieving sister Andrea McKeough said the four uni students all had “bright futures ahead”.
The fatalities have prompted MP Ros Bates to call for planned road upgrades to be fast-tracked and targeted after it took the area’s road toll to 16 in six years.
THE sister of one of four young adults killed in a horror Gold Coast head-on says all had “bright futures” as a city MP calls for fast-tracked road upgrades on the killer stretch.
Brisbane’s Courtney Smith, 20, and Kirsten Van Gorp, 22, were killed alongside Townsville’s Lochlan Parker, 20, and Katrina McKeough, 21, when the Mazda 3 sedan they were travelling in crashed into an oncoming utility in the Gold Coast Hinterland on Saturday.
The four mates were on Nerang-Murwillumbah Rd at Advancetown when the driver reportedly lost control and collided with the Volkswagen Amarok ute. Conditions were wet at the time.
Ambulance crews tried to save their lives but all suffered “traumatic cardiac arrest” and died at the scene. Shocked emergency workers needed welfare support.
The 31-year-old male driver of the utility was taken to Gold Coast Hospital with minor injuries. It is understood all four victims were university students, mostly at James Cook University.
I LOVED MY SISTER SO MUCH AND I FEEL WRETCHED KNOWING THAT THE LAST TIME WE SPOKE, WE FOUGHT. WE NEVER MADE PEACE WITH THE ARGUMENT, AND NOW NEVER WILL.
ANDREA MCKEOUGH
Ms Smith graduated from James Cook University in 2019 before becoming a student at the Queensland University of Technology.
Ms McKeough’s sister, Andrea McKeough, shared her heartbreak on Facebook.
Ms McKeough wrote on Saturday: “I’m completely and utterly at a loss for words.
“Today around 1pm, my sister Katrina McKeough and three of our close friends Lochlan Parker, Courtney Smith and Kirsten Van Gorp were involved in a horrific car crash in the Gold Coast and were killed almost instantly.
“To all the family and friends who have been affected by this, I’m so sorry … I loved them all more than I can say and they all had such bright futures ahead of them.
“I don’t even know how to begin to process this. I loved my sister so much and I feel wretched knowing that the last time we spoke, we fought. Badly.
“We never made peace with the argument, and now never will. All I can say is to keep your loved ones close and to cherish every moment.
“I never imagined this would happen, but it has — and I would give anything to have seen her one last time to make it right.”
Originally from Nuhlunbuy in the Northern Territory, it’s understood Ms McKeough moved to Townsville to study a Bachelor of Engineering. Ms McKeough had a promising career ahead of her and was awarded the 2019 Glencore Prize in Engineering and 2019 Glencore Prize in Science.
It’s understood Ms Smith and her friends were travelling to the Natural Bridge in the Springbrook National Park on a day trip. It is believed she visited the popular spot two weeks earlier and was keen to show her friends who were on holidays from university.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads last month announced $34 million had been allocated to upgrading Nerang-Murwillumbah Rd.
The project is due to start in early 2021, however, a Gold Coast MP has called for the project to be fast-tracked after the fatal crash.
Mudgeeraba MP Ros Bates said community consultation and the design development of the project needed to be done as soon as possible.
Ms Bates said there had been 16 fatalities, 31 hospitalisations and “countless” nearmisses since mid-2014 on Nerang-Murwillumbah Rd.
“There have been so many near-misses and hospitalisations that aren’t reported on and the majority of them are motorcyclists,” Ms Bates said.
“We get a lot of motorbikes, push bikes and tourists out this way and people aren’t always doing the right thing.
“It’s a good road if you drive to the conditions and stick to the speed limit … but there definitely needs to be some passing lanes.”
Ms Bates said some of the safety improvements being considered were centre-line marking from BeaudesertNerang Rd to Latimers Crossing Rd and dedicated right turns into Parkway Dve and Tangara Rd at Advancetown.
However, she said there had been no community consultation to decide where the money would be best spent.
Ms Bates said the Department of Transport and Main Roads needed to speak with locals and first responders who travelled the road daily and knew where the hot spots were.
“I’m certainly not giving the $34 million back, but I want to make sure it’s spent in the right places,” Ms Bates said.
THE deaths of four young adults on a treacherous stretch of road in the Gold Coast Hinterland on Saturday was a shocking tragedy.
These young students were in the prime of their life and their loss will have a lasting profound impact on their family and friends.
The deaths of Courtney Smith, Kirsten Van Gorp, Lochlan Parker and Katrina McKeough will leave a hole in their respective communities and the Gold Coast, with experienced emergency services workers describing the scene on Saturday as among the worst they had ever witnessed.
With this in mind, it is incumbent that the State Government do everything in its power to fix this notoriously dangerous stretch of road in the visitor-magnet Gold Coast Hinterland so that tragedies such as this have a much smaller chance of occurring again.
The Department of Transport and Main Roads last month announced $34 million had been allocated to upgrading Nerang Murwillumbah Rd, with work due to start in early 2021.
The area, shamefully, has been the graveyard of 16 motorists in the past six years. That is a sad, sorry and inexcusable record.
There must now be community consultation, including with those who know it best, to ensure this money is effectively spent to prevent another tragedy.