Shortly before 3pm on Sunday 16 October 2022, a two-vehicle crash occured where 4-lane John Gorton Drive becomes 2-lane Coppins Crossing Road in the suburb of Whitlam on the North side of Coppins Crossing.
Although investigations need to be completed and coronial reports prepared, it's a fact that people die on bad roads, particularly those without lane separation.
Upgrading this section of road from 2 to 4 lanes has been delayed for years and is currently expected to be done before the end of 2025.
For the Police to say ACT has "some of the best roads in Australia" omits that this is probably the worst arterial road in the Territory, carrying over 6,000 vehicles a day.
Where 4 lanes of traffic go to 2 there’s a history of crashes elsewhere.
Management of Coppins Crossing and its approaches by the ACT Government has been poor, particularly with increasing traffic loads from new suburbs on each side. The accident site itself is where cars merge to form one lane on a downhill slope at 80km/h into a bend and blind corner. Conditions at the time of the crash were fine and sunny.
Anyone who delays the upgrade of this arterial road or defends its current condition or management is complicit and accepting of further deaths and injury.
Immediate improvements to the road in this area should include
- Limiting speed of traffic to 60km/h on both sides of the crossing that are not 4 lanes
- Banning heavy or articulated vehicles from using Coppins Crossing
- Widening of the current road way to include road shoulders
- Installing street lighting where not already present
- Clearing overhanging vegetation and embankments that obscure the road ahead