THE death of Coal Point teenager Jade Frith was a “tragedy waiting to happen”, Charlestown MP Jodie Harrison said.
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The talented 15-year-old swimmer died on Thursday, two days after she was struck by a Ford Laser as she crossed Hillsborough Road in Warners Bay just before 5pm.
Her death prompted an outpouring of grief from friends and family, as well as the wider swimming community.
But it’s also angered members of the community who say the road is notorious for being dangerous.
The teenager had just gotten off her bus north of the roundabout at the corner of Hillsborough Road and King Street in Warners Bay, and was crossing the road to attend swimming practice.
Warners Bay businesswoman Nicole Antony, who went to school with Jade's mother Melissa, was so moved by the tragedy that she set up a petition calling for the roundabout to be replaced with traffic lights.
By Friday afternoon, she had already attracted more than 1500 signatures and promised to remain campaigning until things changed.
“I am just so devastated for Jade's family and felt there needed to be something positive to come out of all this tragedy,” Ms Antony said.
“It needs to change, and it needs to change now.”
On Friday, Charlestown MP Jodie Harrison said she had been calling on the state government to release the results of a $4 million planning study it committed to before the election to widen the road to four lanes between Warners Bay and the Newcastle inner-city bypass.
“My electorate office is inundated with complaints about this road, people take their lives into their hands every time they cross it,” she said on Friday.
Ms Harrison says the results from the study were due in the middle of last year, but the government’s parliamentary secretary for the Hunter, Scot MacDonald, said it was extended in August or September to include Hillsborough Road and all state roads between Warners Bay and Charlestown, and would be complete by the end of the year.
“The investigations are considering options such as widening and providing additional lanes along Hillsborough Road, traffic lights at Chadwick and Crockett streets and upgrades to the Warners Bay and inner-city bypass roundabouts,” he said.
“Community consultation is expected to be carried out on the Lake Macquarie Traffic Study in the coming months and the draft Charlestown to Warners Bay corridor strategy is expected to be displayed for community feedback late this year.”
