A man was severely injured in a hit and run accident on Saturday morning on the notorious stretch of Yamba Drive outside Canberra Hospital, where a senior cardiac technician was killed and another hospital staff member was badly hurt two years ago.
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A safety audit prepared for the ACT government in 2012 warned there were significant risks to pedestrians crossing Yamba Drive at Canberra Hospital and suggested multiple options to make it safer.
Roads ACT director Tony Gill said several of the options had been implemented, including an extra pedestrian crossing at the existing traffic lights, moving bus stops closer to crossings and installing a pedestrian fence in the median strip to direct people to crossings and help prevent jaywalking.
ACT Policing said the victim of the latest accident had been left lying in the middle of the road and was discovered at 5.50am and taken to the hospital for treatment. Police said the man was not a hospital staff member.
The audit found there were multiple dangers at the site and urged the government to consider building a pedestrian overpass or underpass as a long-term measure.
The report also found there were 393 crashes on Yamba Drive between Kitchener Street and Hindmarsh Drive during the preceding five years period - from January, 1, 2007 to December 31, 2011.
In May 2012, senior cardiac technician Linda Cox was killed and her colleague Ashlee Bumpus was injured in a hit and run accident outside the hospital.
Health Services Union ACT organiser Bev Turello said a memorial to Mrs Cox, established close to the place where she died, was an enduring symbol that something needed to be done to fix the trouble spot.
"Our members have debated this and voted on it and we are strongly in favour of having the overpass built,'' she said.
"I think ACT Health and the government were hoping the completion of the five-storey parking station would relieve the issue, but it hasn't.
"Staff try not to park on the other side of the road now. It's still an issue though. Each time I cross there from the car park to the hospital, the cars seem to fly along and you are never really sure they will stop even if you have the green light. There have always been crashes there.''
Hospital staff suggested building a pedestrian overpass 63 times when they were surveyed for the audit, making it the most popular solution by far.
However, Mr Gill said the report also highlighted an overpass would reduce the number of pedestrians crossing Yamba Drive at road level but would not eliminate all street-level movements. It estimated a bridge or underpass may provide for about 50 per cent of the pedestrian demand.
"If the hospital were to extend onto the other part of Yamba Drive, it may be prudent to have an overpass there. Having said that, it is a longer-term consideration,'' he said.
NRMA's regional director for the ACT Alan Evans has added his voice to the call for action, saying Saturday's hit-run showed the trouble spot needed to be fixed.
"The government certainly has to look at a pedestrian bridge there because the traffic at the hospital is going to increase, not decrease, in the coming years,'' he said.
