Stalemate on fixing killer northside intersection

Almost two years after nurse Solita Honorio died in a car crash outside a Brisbane hospital, politicians are still bickering about who should fix the intersection where she was killed.

The State Government and Council are still bickering about who should fix an intersection where Fitzgibbon nurse Solita Honorio died in 2018.

Two years of petitions, protests and promises have come to nothing, with Council and the State Government blaming each other for not fixing a killer northside intersection.

Prince Charles Hospital nurse Solita Honorio, 52, died in December, 2018 after her car and another vehicle collided at the corner of Hamilton and Staib roads.

She was leaving the hospital at the end of her shift when the crash occurred.

The intersection has been a notorious black spot for many years and after the tragedy the nurses’ union, Ms Honorio’s colleagues and others lobbied to have traffic lights installed.

There appeared to be a breakthrough in June last year when $1.5 million was set aside in the Council budget for an upgrade of the intersection.

PCH nurse Solita Honorio was killed at a notorious intersection outside the hospital.

But the Department of Transport and Main Roads has backflipped on a promise in December last year to co-fund the upgrade, despite the State Government recently announcing a multi-million dollar upgrade for the hospital.

“We are aware of the safety concerns at the intersection of Hamilton and Staib roads at Chermside,’’ a TMR spokesman said.

“But these are local government roads and the Brisbane City Council is responsible for Hamilton Rd.’’

Marchant ward Councillor, Fiona Hammond said the State Government had responsibility for managing the hospital’s parking and traffic impacts.

“Yet there is no commitment despite the Palaszczuk Government’s proposal to massively expand the Prince Charles Hospital (PCH),’’ Cr Hammond said.

“The hospital currently employs over 3000 staff and cares for over 400,000 people each year, generating a lot of traffic in surrounding roads.

“The intersection of Hamilton and Staib roads urgently needs traffic lights installed.

“Brisbane City Council has committed to funding 50 per cent of an upgrade to the intersection.

“Council has worked on a design for this upgrade, but the State Government continues to ignore calls to fund the other 50 per cent for several years.

“With the State Government’s proposal to expand and redevelop the hospital, now is the time for them to finally commit funding to install traffic signals.

Council first sent a Memorandum of Understanding to the State Government to co-fund the intersection in March last year, but Cr Hammond said they had not received a response.

She also said the State Government was not required to put development applications for the hospital through Council, and did not need to invest in related infrastructure.

Nurses union PCH representative, Deb Ranson, said previously that the intersection had been a known problem area for more than 16 years.

Councillor Fiona Hammond.

“PCH staff have long attempted to get something done about this intersection as there have been many near misses and accidents there over the years … you just cannot get out of that road safely,” she said.

“To kick off our campaign, we initially sent out a survey across the hospital to gather information about the intersection and we had a whopping 90 per cent response rate.’’

A community meeting last year on the issue, attended by the Government and Council, attracted 200 people and a petition garnered several thousand signatures.

Then Health Minister, Anthony Lynham, committed at the time to have lights installed at the intersection by December, 2019.

The agreement at the time was that Council would come up with a design and costing, with money to be allocated in both Council and State Government Budgets.