GC road awarded multimillion-dollar works weeks before crash

In a tragic twist of fate, a multimillion-dollar upgrade was announced only weeks before a “notorious” road claimed the lives of four young university students.

In a tragic twist of fate, a multimillion-dollar upgrade was announced only weeks before a “notorious” road claimed the lives of four young university students.

Former James Cook University students Lochlan Parker, 20, Katrina McKeogh, 21, Courtney Smith, 20 and Kirsten Van Gorp, 22 (who was known to friends as Elliot) were killed when the Mazda 3 they were in crashed into an oncoming utility on Saturday.

Initial reports indicated the driver lost control around a bend on Nerang-Murwillumbah Rd at Advancetown about 1pm.

The 31-year-old male driver of the utility was taken to Gold Coast Hospital with minor injuries.

The crash was so catastrophic that CIB detectives were brought in to assist officers from the Forensic Crash Unit as part of a response featuring dozens of emergency service first responders.

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Investigators have indicated heavy rainfall was a major contributing factor after the Gold Coast copped a drenching hat wreaked havoc on roads and cut access to some altogether.

More than 100mm of rain fell over the region, with the highest rain total recorded at Monterey Keys, which saw 184mm over the weekend.

In a sad ironic twist, the stretch of road has a tragic history with nine people killed in crashes on Nerang-Murwillumbah Road since November 2014.

The four young adults killed in a horror Gold Coast Hinterland crash at the weekend, clockwise from top left, are Lochlan Park, Courtney Smith, Kirsten Van Gorp (known as Elliot) and Katrina McKeough.

The road was known to be hazardous and classed as “high risk” by the Transport of Main Roads, which last month announced $34 million had been allocated to upgrading it.

The project is due to start in early 2021, however, a Gold Coast MP has called for the project to be fast tracked and more targeted after the fatal crash.

Mudgeerba 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” near-misses 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.

Lochlan, Katrina and Elliot were students at James Cook University (JCU), while Courtney attended Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

Scenes of a fatal crash at Advancetown in The Gold Coast Hinterland. Photograph: Jason O'Brien

Heartbroken classmates of Lochlan and Katrina have paid tribute to the engineering students, who are being remembered as “incredible talents” and active members of the JCU Robotics Club.

Robo Club President Ross Siddins remembered his friends as “powerhouses of hard work,” and said he would miss them both terribly.

“As student leaders, and more, in running tutorials for first-years, Lochlan and Kat were both powerhouses of hard-work, resilience and incredible talent,” Mr Siddins said.

“Lochlan was quiet, thoughtful, and conscientious with a brilliant wit.

“Kat was driven, wry, infectiously optimistic and brilliantly charismatic.”

Mr Parker was vice president of the club, while Miss McKeough was the group’s media officer.

Mr Siddins credited Miss McKeough as the reason for the club’s sign-ups success.

“(She) basically built the bulk of our membership single-handedly. She was so beloved by many in the JCU student community,” he said.

Miss McKeough’s sister, Andrea McKeough said on Facebook that the group of four friends, who she “loved more than (she) could say”, were just starting their lives.

Originally published as GC road awarded multimillion-dollar works weeks before crash