City councils, roading contractors and gravel

[yungatart]

During the Christmas holiday period Napier City Council saw fit to reseal a T intersection, one that is extremely busy during the school year. It feeds a primary school, an Intermediate, a High School and a kindy, so big ups to them for doing it off peak.

However, when I returned to work, I noted that the gravel was spread all through the intersection, next day it is still there. There are no signs out warning of loose metal or resealing.

On my way home, I saw a resealing truck at work further down the road and asked if they were going to clean up the other one. They weren't bothered by it, and said "shit happens". My response was " No, arseholes cause it."

Being concerned that in a couple of days this intersection was going to be used by many a young inexperienced scooter rider/motorcyclist, I rang the council and suggested that they could perhaps clean it up before school went back. I spoke to the boss (a civil engineer) of the roading dept, and he assured me that there had not been any resealing carried out on that intersection...turns out he was not talking about the same road as I was! That minor detail resolved, he promised that the road would be swept of any loose stuff, in the next day or two. Great, I think. An easy solution....nah, not even Al!

Today, (1 week later) I again head back through that same intersection. It is unchanged, gravel spread from arsehole to breakfast time and not a sign in sight. The scooter rider in front of me wobbles through, and the cyclist does a power slide!

Ring the council again, spoke to the same guy. He babbles on about protecting the assets of our city, and blathers something about the metal being dragged through the intersection because they can't sweep up under the parked cars. There are yellow lines right through the resealing, preventing anyone from parking there legally! He tells me it has been swept twice since I last rang....yeah right! He assures me he is in the business of safety, with over 35 years in the trade, and suggests quite strongly that I don't know what I am talking about. I state that civil engineers are often responsible for putting manhole covers on bike lines in intersections and also for installing cheesecutters on our highways to slice and dice any rider who happens to come in contact with them, so pardon me if I don't have huge amounts of respect for some C Es. At that point, he terminated our conversation. Yes, someone who is paid out of my rates contribution, hung up on me!

Meanwhile the intersection remains a risk to unsuspecting riders.
I guess I'll take a broom to work with me tomorrow!

[shafty]

Good work Yunga.

I would ask for his name/send him an e-mail registering your concern and maybe include a photo. Mention that you are 'covering your butt' 'cos you couldn't sleep at night if you were reponsible for a motorcycle accident.

That might get him thinking about covering his butt!

Good post!

[MSTRS:Me]

Good work Yunga.

I would ask for his name/send him an e-mail registering your concern and maybe include a photo. Mention that you are 'covering your butt' 'cos you couldn't sleep at night if you were reponsible for a motorcycle accident.

That might get him thinking about covering his butt!

Good post!

He couldn't give two hoots about that. Obviously, or he would be seeing that there is at least some signs out giving fair warning. His attitude towards motorcyclists proves that we do not rate in any shape or form in matters of safety.
Oh - and "don't bother trying to 'educate' me either because I won't be listening" *click* (he didn't say that in those words but that was what he meant)

[shafty]

He couldn't give two hoots about that. Obviously, or he would be seeing that there is at least some signs out giving fair warning. His attitude towards motorcyclists proves that we do not rate in any shape or form in matters of safety.

I beg to differ. There is much more accountability in this area today.

[MSTRS:Me]

I beg to differ. There is much more accountability in this area today.

Really. I beg to differ. At least where this guy was concerned.

[sunhuntin]

can you go higher up? keep it up, yunga! can you rally some of the high school teachers or student riders to kick up a stink as well? maybe hunt some road rash pics off google and send them in and say 'these are the injuries one of the students arrived with after falling off on your loose gravel. his parents are thinking of sueing council?" of course, dont send them in under your or mstrs' name, otherwise he wont even read it.

on the note of man hole covers, i counted how many there between a corner and a give way on the road i use up to twice a day. between the 2 points, a distance of maybe half a k [which i will measure tomorrow] there are exactly 15 manhole covers. all of them in clusters, and all of them at differing levels. one is right in the middle of the line i take getting around the corner, and the rest are easily avoided. but the first has caught me several times, grabbing the back and spitting it out in a different direction in the wet.

[klingon]

I guess I'll take a broom to work with me tomorrow!

You might have struck the answer there. How about you and a bunch of HB KBers bring your brooms, borrow some orange cones from the site further up the road, and cordon off the intersection while you sweep up the mess? Then you could send the bill to the engineer in question.

Remember to take some before & after photos so you can show him what his supposedly safe intersection looked like with loose gravel strewn all over it.

[shafty]

You might have struck the answer there. How about you and a bunch of HB KBers bring your brooms, borrow some orange cones from the site further up the road, and cordon off the intersection while you sweep up the mess? Then you could send the bill to the engineer in question.

Remember to take some before & after photos so you can show him what his supposedly safe intersection looked like with loose gravel strewn all over it.

Great idea. Invite a Reporter from the local paper - that'll get the Engineers tits-in-a-tangle. Love it!

[yungatart]

Great idea. Invite a Reporter from the local paper - that'll get the Engineers tits-in-a-tangle. Love it!

Currently waitng for a reporter to ring me back....

[shafty]

currently waitng for a reporter to ring me back....

b e a u t i f u l !

[Horse]

This is easy stuff, but requires an outlay of time.

1. Take a photo of the intersection today.

2. Ring the Council, express your concerns. Write a letter, expressing the same views, make a reference to the phone conversation, include copy of the photo. If you receive any specific feedback in the phone call, write down a summary of the call immediately afterwards, sign and date it.

3. Wait a week.

4. If nothing has been done, take another photo, make another phone call, write another letter, include the second photo. Same procedure as above.

5. Wait 2 days. When nothing has been done, take copies of your photos and letters and notes to the local paper. Emphasise the safety issue, and how reasonable you've been. Specifically mention the name and responses of the CE (or anyone else) if they act like dicks, referring to the written notes you made.

6. Sit back and enjoy.

EDIT: ah, you're already on this track, good one. Remember, what ever happens, write it down. Documentary evidence counts 10x "he says" or "she says".

[twistemotion]

I logged two complaints with the New Plymouth District council a few months back about loose gravel at a certain section of road in town. A contractor had resealed, but the job was either done badly or the rain caught them out. Anyway, the chip seal was breaking loose as vehicles travelled over it from day one. I used the web form on their website twice. Each time I logged a complaint, the road was swept clean the very next day - very impressive! In each complaint I mentioned the danger to cyclists and motorcyclists. I also thanked them afterwards for the clean-up work carried out.

They did indicate on their website that they were aware of the problem, that it was a warranty issue and that the contractor would be resurfacing the road again soon.

I see Mangorei Rd in New Plymouth has a lot of loose gravel now after some "upgrade" work...

[Mikkel]

I spoke to the boss (a civil engineer) of the roading dept, and he assured me that there had not been any resealing carried out on that intersection...

I have to correct you about something - the guy you talked to wasn't a civil engineer. He was a bureaucrat, and a rude, lazy piece of shit as well. He may well have the title of civil engineer - but it isn't what he is.

According to Dictionary.com:

Civil engineer: a person who designs public works, as roads, bridges, canals, dams, and harbors, or supervises their construction or maintenance. (does not include answering, rudely or otherwise, calls from concerned citizens.)

Bureaucrat: an official who works by fixed routine without exercising intelligent judgment. (and typically doesn't give a toss about anything except obstructing the efficient flow of business in order to bolster its own sense of self-importance.)


And thank you for your concern as well. I hope you manage to stir up a bit of a ruckus about this - it's quite unacceptable. If you get anywhere with it, may I humbly request you mentioning the idea of coloring the grit, that is being strewn all over our roads, an eye-catching colour like red or blue so you could easily identify it when trundling along.

[yungatart]

I have yet to hear from the local paper...typical of HB Today!
As for the Civil Engineer, I agree Mikkel, and he was anything but civil!

[davereid]

Before ACC, if the council left a road in a dangerous state, and you crashed, you could sue the pricks. Now you can't so the lazy pricks can just ignore the problem.

Ring the cunts up and say "hey - who is responsible for the dangerous gravel littering the intersection. I just fell off my $50,000 Harley due to the slippery shit, and me lawyer wants to know"