IT is with some trepidation that I read in an article in the Beacon last month one of the safety ‘improvements’ suggested to reduce the accident rate on Wainui Road is the installation of rumble strips. As a cyclist, one of a large number who regularly cycle Wainui Road, this idea fills me with dismay.
To cycle this road safely now and keep out of the traffic I cycle on the white side line mostly and where possible on the inside of this line. This means we are clear of the traffic and out of the way as much as possible, and I know that most motorists appreciate this as it is not easy to pass on this road.
Having cycled many other roads with rumble strips on the inside, the cyclist is left with only one place to ride, about 450mm outside the white line, I would like to say that on the Wainui Road, being forced to cycle out this far will put me right in the traffic and not only will it make it impossible for cars to pass me in a lot of places, it will only be a matter of time until a cyclist is killed, or seriously injured, if this plan of installing rumble strips is implemented. I implore the council and NZ Transport Agency – please for the sake of cyclists, consider this carefully before installing rumble strips.
Noel Hutchings
Ohope
- Whakatane District Council transportation manager Martin Taylor responds:
THE work referred to is a Safe Roads Alliance (SRA) initiative. The SRA has been established to progress state highway safety improvements across the country.
Its focus is improving routes, rather than focusing on individual high-risk crash locations. In the Eastern Bay, the SRA is progressing three projects – one on SH30 between the Kawerau turnoff west of Te Teko and Awakeri; and another on SH34, the route into Kawerau.
The third project was initially going to be SH2 between Matekerepu and Opotiki, but on realising the “route” to consider was actually between Ohope and Opotiki, the Alliance offered to include Wainui Road (a local road and not a state highway) in this safe roads project.
The Whakatane and Opotiki district councils support of this “route treatment” concept and the third SRA project in our region, the route between Ohope and Opotiki.
The safety treatments the SRA considers for any route depend on a wide range of factors including traffic volumes, pedestrian and cycle use, road alignment and roadside hazards (drop-offs etc).
Improvements can include road realignment, road widening, guard-railing and improved signs and line marking, including the installation of edgeline “rumble strips”.
Not all of these options are appropriate for all road sections, and the council’s view is that rumble strips would not be appropriate for Wainui Road without the associated road widening to enable safe cycling. Cyclists have as much right to a safe journey on our roads as any other mode of travel and Whakatane District Council would therefore not support or propose the installation of “rumble strips” on a cycle route without road widening.
We will be making our views on this matter known to the SRA.