Getting a road closed

[fizbin]

Ok so after my encounter with a cages bonnet and then the edge of a round about. I have had a bit of time to reflect on what happened and what i could have done different, eg: could i have done things better, was i going too fast, did the fact that i was not wearing my high vis jacket for the first time since i started riding my bike to work make a difference, that sort of thing.
I have come to the conclusion i could have done a couple of things different
1: target fixation - all i could do was look at the car that had just pulled out in front of me.
2: i should have been wearing my High vis vest (this may not have helped but we will never know)
3: braked harder.
I have also come to conclusion that given the fact that i have only been riding three weeks i think that i did pretty well to bin as lightly as i did.

This said... i drive off the motorway and through that intersection every day on my way to work and even in the car i have come close to hitting other cage drivers. it is the most stupid place to put an intersection. it is at the bottom of an off ramp! you have (if you are lucky) 100m to slow your car/motorbike down from 100km to 50km around a corner before you get to the place where i was hit, and judging by the amount of debris on the road where i was lying after my close inspection of a bonnet this is not an uncommon thing to happen here.

So here is my question then. how does one go about getting the council to change the layout of this road? there are other ways that would only add 1 or 2 mins to a journey that would be a much safer way for cars to get on to the on ramp to the motorway, they would not be crossing traffic coming off the motorway and thus eliminating this hazard.

I contacted the council today but i don't want this to get lost in the bureaucracy that is the government departments. do any you know how to get some attention to this. i believe that it is only a matter of time before some one gets killed here (if it has not already happened)
some advice here would be good.

[LilSel]

where is it?

[fizbin]

Just off the Ticoma St off ramp - first intersection past that. Kentucky Rd.

[MaxCannon]

You mean Tecoma st right next to the Police base in Ellerslie ?

If the sight of a dozen highway patrol cars in the car park doesn't make you slow down before hitting that first intersection then I doubt much will.

I'll admit it's a short off ramp but the trick to it is to slow down as you exit the motorway.

In the car the brake pedal is to the left of the accelerator. Press it with your foot to slow the vehicle.
On the bike you squeeze the lever on the right handle bar and press the pedal under your right foot.

[fizbin]

You mean Tecoma st right next to the Police base in Ellerslie ?

If the sight of a dozen highway patrol cars in the car park doesn't make you slow down before hitting that first intersection then I doubt much will.

I'll admit it's a short off ramp but the trick to it is to slow down as you exit the motorway.

In the car the brake pedal is to the left of the accelerator. Press it with your foot to slow the vehicle.
On the bike you squeeze the lever on the right handle bar and press the pedal under your right foot.

smart thanks for that

[Skyryder]

So here is my question then. how does one go about getting the council to change the layout of this road? there are other ways that would only add 1 or 2 mins to a journey that would be a much safer way for cars to get on to the on ramp to the motorway, they would not be crossing traffic coming off the motorway and thus eliminating this hazard.

I contacted the council today but i don't want this to get lost in the bureaucracy that is the government departments. do any you know how to get some attention to this. i believe that it is only a matter of time before some one gets killed here (if it has not already happened)
some advice here would be good.

On your own..............no chance at all. The best you can do is to write to the Council with copies to your own councillor and your MP with your concerns. Ask if the council has any concerns about the section of road you are concerned about. They may also be aware of the problem and have budgetted for any corrections etc. One thing about buerocrats is that they do not like to answer questions so any quetsions that you ask make sure that they have been answered. The written word is your best weapon at this stage. Good luck and have fun.

Skyryder

[swbarnett]

Ok so after my encounter with a cages bonnet and then the edge of a round about.

Where's the round about?

I agree Tecoma St. is a nasty off ramp. I have no problem slowing to 50kph after leaving the motorway at 100kph (or more) before the intersection but this does leave you with another 50kph to lose if you have to.

Clonbern Rd. has been closed off for exactly this reason (I assume). It touches Greenlane Rd. East just after the Greenlane motorway exit heading south. I think the problem is that Tecoma St. simply isn't busy enough to attract the road planner's attention.

Good luck.

[Monsterbishi]

Best bet would be to contact Transit and find out who is the engineer to the contract for that area(ie Opus) where the off-ramp is.

I wouldn't try and get anything as large as a closure, or intersection re-form, best bet would be to try and get some extra advance warning signage put in place detailing the approaching hazard(intersection) to the traffic that are using the off-ramp.

Other cheaper options(they like cheap) would be to have a queuing traffic sensor put at the start of the offramp and the warning lamp fitted at the intersection.

[The Pastor]

the way it works is a numbers game, all you can do is keep lodging complaints (they do get looked at). when a number of people have made the same complaint they investigate it to see if it is dangerours then they apply to fix it.

shit takes ages yo.

[Usarka]

Sorry if i'm blunt but my emotional pencil has been writing all day.

i've used that off-ramp for 2 years of my life and never had any issues slowing to 50kph before the sign (why - because of the bacon farm (sorry police station (sorry for the mulitple brackets))) at the end of it. I often treated it as a practice sem-emergency stop as long as no cars behind me.

Do a RRRS course - it will help with the braking, and avoiding target fixation.

Cars pull out of intersections on bikers regardless of roadlayout or invisible vests.

I hope you are ok

[Squiggles]

We've got a fucked up intersection out here in epsom/mt eden, where st andrews road meets king george ave

They "kinked" the intersection at some point, to make it so racer types couldnt just burn down the hill, through the intersection, and along the straight

The result of the kink is a normal 2 road intersection, only when cars coming either way along st andrews turn right, they'll headon. Its two lanes from one direction, with the left being a kinked straight through, and the right being a turn right

Add to that that people coming along king george ave and turning to go up the hill end up sitting on the whites to turn right, there area several near misses a day from people not understanding the layout or not looking the right direction before they take off

Gets even more hazardous post 3pm when the kiddies start crossing next to the intersection from the 2 schools that are close to it

[fizbin]

Sorry if i'm blunt but my emotional pencil has been writing all day.

i've used that off-ramp for 2 years of my life and never had any issues slowing to 50kph before the sign (why - because of the bacon farm (sorry police station (sorry for the mulitple brackets))) at the end of it. I often treated it as a practice sem-emergency stop as long as no cars behind me.

Do a RRRS course - it will help with the braking, and avoiding target fixation.

Cars pull out of intersections on bikers regardless of roadlayout or invisible vests.

I hope you are ok

Hi Usarka
That is not an emotional response you raise some good points.
I have no problem with pulling my car/bike up to 50km in the short distance what i do have the problem with is the fact that cars can drive across the bottom of an off ramp.
Would you not prefer that cars had to enter the road further down the street where it is a little more safe?
I am not the first rider to be hit at that intersection and will not be the last.
the only concern for me is that i was lucky really i came off with bruising and a stuffed bike, much better than making my kids orphans. it is only a matter of time before someone is killed here. the reality is that people don't, as me and you do, slow down to 50kn before this intersection. my workmate found out this the hard way, he T-Boned a car at 80km in that exact same spot.
if you can't make people avoid the hazard then you should remove the hazard which in this case is very easy to do. all people have to do is enter the street via another street further down the road. the reality is that this will not add anymore traveling time to most peoples trip to work, it is just a different route
the result from doing this makes that intersection vastly more safe.

[Nasty]

Contacting the council is not enough. You need to formally write in. this will get it logged and mean you can follow up ... as per my letter dated blah ...

Formal contact is best with these issues ... lay out the facts .. and remove any emotive language ...

That is one way anyways ....

[swbarnett]

i've used that off-ramp for 2 years of my life and never had any issues slowing to 50kph before the sign

I don't use it often (read once or twice a year) but from what I remember being at 50kph at the sign would still leave you too fast to avoid someone coming out of the side street.

[R6_kid:Me]

There are other ways that would only add 1 or 2 mins to a journey that would be a much safer way for cars to get on to the on ramp to the motorway, they would not be crossing traffic coming off the motorway and thus eliminating this hazard.

I think you answered you're question for yourself.