M5 Bexley Gate Broken

[MREJ]

M5 users - today I got to the gate just before the tunnel (heading towards the city) only to find it stuck shut. I couldnt get it open and had to head back to King Georges Rd on the breakdown lane, riding against the flow. I spoke to the maintenance crew at the lay-by, who said they'd tell the appropriate people. They also said it gets vandalised quite often.

[wombatK]

Thanks for the heads-up.

They also said it gets vandalised quite often.

The bicycle-wheel activated latch was vandalised more than a year ago, and never fixed. Hope the gate get fixed a bit quicker.

Would really love to see them fix the gate by removing it. Problem solved. Can't think of any useful purpose the gate serves.If local cats and dogs are silly enough to escape their owners premises, and wander onto the motorway, Darwin's law will soon enough take care of them.

At the very least, replacing it with a gate that a cyclist could climb would make a lot of sense.

If anyone else gets stuck like this, exiting across the motorway lanes at the Bexley Road east-bound exit is usually doable
in light (early Sat/Sun) traffic, and very doable in peak-hour morning congestion. Alternatively, you could ride back just to the Kingsgrove Rd on-ramp, then use the cycleway along the M5 linear park (southern side of M5) to get back to Bexley Road.

Cheers

[MREJ]

I thought about the gate and whether it wouldn't be simpler to install bollards, but I think the gate it is needed. I would hate to find a little child got onto the motorway. Thanks for the tip about the Bexley Rd exit - I didn't even think of it. I did think of going down the Kingsgrove Rd entrance, but there's no breakdown lane so I decided not to go into the oncoming traffic.

[wombatK]

Found the gate was "fixed" on Saturday. Latch and handle had been removed. Would be quite happy for it to be left like that, as it made it much easier to open by bumping the rollers on the gate bottom.

[NhiTrac]

Just a heads up that the gate is locked shut again. Their attempt to fix it last time saw the lock mechanism held in place with just one bolt at the top. As a result the cylinder is completely gone and you can't turn the handle.

The fix?



No joke. I was fiddling with the two Allen keys I had but no luck. A fellow cyclist rocked up later and tried his house key and it did the trick. So credit to the fellow cyclist (sorry but I forgot to catch his name ).

Will follow this up with an email to M5 folks later today...

Edit: quick response... "maintenance crew will be out this week to see what we can do".

Apparently it was fixed with tamperproof plates and locks but were vandalised again.

[wombatK]

Apparently it was fixed with tamperproof plates and locks but were vandalised again.

It's school hols and the kiddies are bored. "Tamperproof" screw drivers are available in any
local $2 shop.

What do they expect ? Just take the lock away and leave it that way.

[NhiTrac]

Apparently it was fixed with tamperproof plates and locks but were vandalised again.

It's school hols and the kiddies are bored. "Tamperproof" screw drivers are available in any
local $2 shop.

What do they expect ? Just take the lock away and leave it that way.

Agree with you wombatk - I actually asked the guy to place a big rock there to keep it from shutting for other cyclist but then ended up all day wondering 'what if' some little kid ran onto the M5 and got swiped. Yes fair enough parents/guardians should be responsible for the young ones but, still, cant help thinking 'what ifs'...

I think what makes it different to the M7 bike lanes is that this one is so close to residential areas

[wombatK]

Agree with you wombatk - I actually asked the guy to place a big rock there to keep it from shutting for other cyclist but then ended up all day wondering 'what if' some little kid ran onto the M5 and got swiped. Yes fair enough parents/guardians should be responsible for the young ones but, still, cant help thinking 'what ifs'...

I think what makes it different to the M7 bike lanes is that this one is so close to residential areas

That's a bad dose of scruples Nhitrac. If a kid is going to wander onto the road, nearby Bexley Rd has traffic that
is more than capable of killing them and no fencing, so the M5 isn't a big deal. In fact, almost every major road in Sydney
does not get the fences and gates treatment that's around the M5 exit. So if a kid doesn't learn or isn't taught
that roads are out of bounds, just think of it as Darwin's Law at work.

And for pretty much most of the daylight hours, traffic doesn't go by the gate exit point at much more than
40 kph - often very much less. That's plenty of time to stop for the not so smart kid on the road situation.

Cheers

[wombatK]

The gate was in working shape today. The lock has been repaired, with tamper-resistant security screws.

Let's see how long before the kiddies foul it up again.

[NhiTrac]

Saw that this morning - 3 screws in the top and 2 below. School starts again this week doesn't it? Hopefully won't be damaged again.