Regarded as Brisbane's most inefficient intersection, it can take motorists at least five to six changes of lights and up to eight minutes to get through. „Rat- running‟ is rife through the precinct.
Two years later in 2006, Fraser and then-Premier Peter Beattie made an election commitment of $2 million for the upgrade.
Nothing, however, has been done to date, and now residents are demanding to know what the hold-up is.
The local community is angry that five years on there has been no State funding and no improvements at the important intersection, despite the government having an agreed upgrade design in hand.
Frustrated Bardon residents, Ray and Geraldine Heron, say the traffic congestion is a "living misery". "Fraser has done nothing at all to ease the daily nightmare at Bardon," Mr Heron said. "The broken promises and lack of action is hugely frustrating."
Saxon Rice, LNP Candidate for Mount Coot-tha, is backing the local community, pushing for action to alleviate the dangerous bottle-neck and fighting to reduce congestion and rat-running in local streets.
"As Treasurer, Andrew Fraser cut spending on our roads by $250 million at the same time as he raked in an additional $500 million from Queensland motorists through the removal of the 9.2c fuel subsidy," Ms Rice says.
"Surely he can spend some of this money-grab on making good his promise. He owes it to the community he represents."
Ms Rice says neither funding for the intersection upgrade nor the broader transport strategy for the Bardon area has been forthcoming under decades of Labor representation for Mount Coot-tha.
"Over 20 years of a Labor government and a local Labor member and residents‟ concerns about the incredible congestion and rat-running in local streets is still being ignored," she says. "Little wonder the community‟s demanding action."
