Bruce Hwy bus crash: MP slams further proof of road’s poor condition

A horror bus crash that claimed three lives on Sunday has sparked renewed calls for more to be done to fix the deadly Bruce Highway.

A horror bus crash that claimed three lives on Sunday has sparked renewed calls for more to be done to fix the deadly Bruce Highway.

Member for Burdekin Dale Last said the Bruce Highway needed a serious injection of funding along its entire length.

“What’s been allocated to the Bruce Highway is absolutely pathetic in terms of funding,” he said.

“It wouldn’t fix the potholes.

“It’s in such a state of disrepair. In some sections, it’s nothing more than a goat track.”

Mr Last said a 1m-wide centre median strip was needed along the full length of the highway.

“I was on a technical advisory committee when we first promoted that idea,” Mr Last said.

“And it’s proven to have saved lives overseas where it was rolled out, and it certainly made a difference on those sections of the highway where it’s in place.

“But it needs to be along the entire length of the highway.”

The Courier-Mail’s Help Our Highway campaign, which was launched in April, revealed almost half the Bruce Highway failed basic safety ratings and just 10 per cent was assessed as extremely safe, with stretches in regional Queensland emerging as the worst danger zones.

According to the Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP), 45.2 per cent of the Bruce Highway was rated just two stars out of five, while 44.1 per cent was rated three stars, and just 10 per cent received four or five stars.

Traffic on the Bruce Highway after Sunday’s triple fatal crash involving a Greyhound bus.

Sunday’s crash occurred on a patchy stretch of highway near Gumlu which goes between sections rated only two and three stars.

Fatal crashes on the problem-plagued Bruce Highway have soared by more than 60 per cent since 2019, and almost 5000 people were injured along the lethal stretch over five years.

Transport and Main Roads data shows 31 people were killed in 29 crashes along the Bruce Highway in 2023 – an increase of nine deaths since 2019.

Those lives lost make up about 11 per cent of all road fatalities in the state.

Cheyarni Pike lost her 59-year-old mother Jackie Faulkner in a crash on the Bruce Highway north of Cardwell in 2022.

Ms Faulkner was on her way to see Ms Pike, who was pregnant at the time. Almost two years later, Ms Pike said she wanted the Bruce Highway to be safer so no family had to go through what they did.

“It’s devastated my family completely,” she said.

“My daughter’s 15 months old now, and I didn’t have my mother for the whole pregnancy and the birth of my child, and she’s never going to meet her.

“So it’s absolutely devastating. We still have so much grief and loss to process and try to work through.

“There’s not anything that can overcome that, like it’s just left a massive hole in our lives.”

Ms Pike said there needed to be more turning lanes, better lighting, the pothole’s needed to be fixed and more overtaking lanes. James Cook University adjunct professor Colin Dwyer, who has been advocating for safer standards on the Bruce Highway for almost a decade as part of the Northern Bruce Action Group, said it was clear more work needed to be done.

Member for Burdekin Dale Last

“That section of highway is one of the worst sections on the northern Bruce right from Brisbane right up to Cairns,” he said.

“When we did our last survey, which would be about two years ago, there was no median strip, which is a big safety issue. If you have a look at the verges, which are another safety issue, they are very narrow. When you look at the bridges on that particular section, they are too narrow as well for safety standards … and there simply aren’t enough overtaking lanes.”

Mr Dwyer said four overtaking lanes were not enough.

“This is an awful situation that we’ve come across, but it might be a catalyst for faster improvement on that highway and better safety conditions on that highway,” he said.

Mr Dwyer has advocated for wider safer bridges, median strips, three and four-lane dual carriageway, targeted speed zones for unsafe sections, better quality road surfaces, appropriate barriers, more OT lanes and better and more transparent data on crashes.

Premier Steven Miles said one loss of life on our roads was difficult to accept let alone many deaths.

“My thoughts are with those involved in this morning’s bus crash at Gumlu, south of Townsville, especially the family and friends of those who have sadly died, and the critically injured,” he said.

“I’ve been told emergency services were met with a very confronting scene. I want to thank them for all their work responding. They really are heroes.

“The Queensland Police Service has launched a full investigation into this crash and the Bruce Highway is currently closed in both directions, as is the rail line.”

He urged people to be patient while emergency services continued their work.

Originally published as Bruce Hwy bus crash: MP slams further proof of road’s poor condition