4 March 2008. Cheesecutter barrier blocked traffic and delayed reopening of road
Precise:
- Truck rolled in it's lane
- 8 men took 2 hours to deal with the mess
- Rope barrier was not able to be moved to acccommodate needs of backlogged traffic
- Concrete barriers could have been temporarily moved, resulting in less holdups, and a better managed situation emergency services.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4424105a23918.html
Peak-hour traffic delays of up to two hours after a crash on Centennial Highway could not be prevented because of the new wire rope median barrier, emergency services say.
• Highway re-opened after crash
Hundreds of motorists were delayed yesterday when a truck flipped on to its roof alongside the new wire rope median barrier installed along the entire stretch of road south of Paekakariki last year. The small truck in the southbound lane clipped a bank and flipped, straddling the lane, about 8am, Sergeant Des O'Sullivan said.
The truck driver suffered a suspected broken collarbone and was taken to Wellington Hospital along with two passengers who had minor injuries.
Mr O'Sullivan said the rope median barrier stopped southbound traffic going around the truck. "The delay motorists faced was the price you pay for a wire rope median barrier. We could not right the truck, it had to be towed away."
About eight men would have been needed to remove one section of the barrier, he said.
Kapiti Emergency Medical Services director Chris Lane said that, though a concrete barrier would have been more expensive, sections would have been easier to remove in emergencies.
Paekakariki Volunteer Fire Brigade chief Ash Richardson said: "There will be teething problems, every crash is different, but the delays were pretty much unpreventable. It would have been too dangerous to remove a section of the wire rope barrier. There would not have been a lot of gain. "
Emergency response representatives will meet this week to discuss procedures.
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