Tin Can Bay Rd residents renew calls over safety after Levi Hanna’s death

While police investigate the cause of Levi Hanna’s death, residents continue to voice safety concerns about the notorious stretch of road.

Residents want a dangerous stretch of road fixed.

Residents living and working along Tin Can Bay Rd have renewed calls for safety after sharing photos and saying they fear for their lives every time they leave their house.

The photos show a slender lip of the road where the bus stops twice each day, along with overgrown verges and blind corners, a point of view residents who live along the Canina part of Tin Can Bay Rd are all too familiar with.

The photos comes as police are conducting ongoing investigations into the tragic loss of Canina schoolboy Levi Hanna, 14, after a car hit him on Tin Can Bay Rd moments after he exited his school bus at the start of February,

Levi Hanna died on a notorious stretch of road.

Lee Garrels has a property along a service road right next to where the accident happened. One of her concerns was the increasing amount and diversity of traffic.

Watching for a gap in what Mrs Garrels described as “highway traffic” is nigh impossible with the “blind corners and lack of visibility from poorly maintained overgrown verges.”

Robert Sawtell, whose driveway directly joins Tin Can Bay Rd, complained about the same problem.

The point of view from Robert Sawtell's driveway, just metres away from where Levi Hanna's tragic accident occurred. Picture: Robert Sawtell

“The overgrown verges mean you can’t see the cars coming,” Mr Sawtell said.

As he said this, he acknowledged he was finally watching tractors mow the verges.

The week prior, a spokesperson from the Department of Main Roads and Transport, told the Gympie Times: “Vegetation maintenance (slashing works) was last completed on Tin Can Bay Road in November 2022 and will occur in coming weeks.

“If an on-site inspection determines the vegetation has reached a level where it is obstructing visibility, or soon will, on the state-controlled road network, then it will be added to our maintenance schedule.”

The biggest ongoing concern from the community was around general road safety and the speed limit.

A dashcam photo shows how cars pass the bus stop on Tin Can Bay Rd, opposite Gate Rd. Picture: Tirtzah Townsend

TMR statistics report at least 15 crashes resulting in 27 casualty hospitalisations simply along the 20km stretch of Tin Can Bay Rd between Cedar Pocket Rd and Tinana Creek Rd since 2017.

Levi was reported as the only fatality on that 20 km stretch road within the time frame.

A cross on the corner of Gate Rd and Tin Can Bay Rd, which many residents pass each day, is a reminder that he wasn’t the first.

It bears the date 29.11.94 and is just metres away from where the February accident happened.

With such memories of tragedy along this road, it is no wonder the community fights so hard for continued road safety.

A cross on the corner of Gate Rd and Tin Can Bay Rd reads 29.11.94. Picture: Christine Schindler

RACQ acknowledged there were ongoing police and TMR investigations into the cause of Levi’s death/

“RACQ’s advice to communities concerned about road safety for vulnerable road users is for the local community, local council and relevant road authority to consider a safer neighbourhood approach,” a spokesperson said.

“This could include a road safety audit and could consider a range of measures such as speed limit considerations, pathways, road crossings, signage, bus stop locations, and road infrastructure upgrades.”

TMR said since 2020, $19m was spent on safety upgrades along the entirety of Tin Can Bay Rd, which included a $300,000 investigation into overtaking lanes.

Despite this spending, residents like Mrs Garrels and Mr Sawtell are not feeling the safety effects.

“Everyday we take our life into our hands when we leave our driveways,” Mr Sawtell said.

Originally published as Tin Can Bay Rd residents renew calls over safety after Levi Hanna’s death