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Who is responsible for the road shoulders that we ride on
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Who is responsible for the road shoulders that we ride on
Postby gretaboy » Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:58 am
I am about to give up on cycle commuting due to the number of flats that I keep getting. I don't believe my flats are due to anything that I am doing wrong as I have tried different tyres and different pressures, I believe it is simply due to the amount of crap that sits on the shoulders.
I travel the New England Highway and for my entire trip my eyes are focused on the road just in front of my wheel. I spend the entire trip dodging rocks of varying sizes, tie down straps, strips of metal, chain link, bolts and anything else that can come off a car or truck. I have gotten 5 flats in the last 3 days, the week before I received 4, so obviously the last 3 days I have not been that successful in my endeavours.
I am wondering who is actually responsible for the shoulders/roads. My travel is through two different councils and neither is one I actually live in. Is it the actual councils or the RTA who owns the roads or shoulders.
I am asking as I am thinking of writing, waste of time I am sure, the council or RTA to request that they put a sweeper along the shoulders once a week or once every two weeks to try and reduce the crap that is littered along the shoulders. I am sort of resigned to thinking that this would be a waste of my time as either party will blame the other I am sure and or I will get lip service but due to costs nothing will ever happen.
Might even send them a bill for the time spent fixing my flats and for the tubes and CO2 canisters used.

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Re: Who is responsible for the road shoulders that we ride o
Postby westab » Thu Jun 28, 2012 10:21 am
Hope you stop getting flats and get the shoulder cleaned.
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Re: Who is responsible for the road shoulders that we ride o
Postby maestro » Thu Jun 28, 2012 6:51 pm
If you are going down the letter writing route, I wouldn't mention the words "flat tyre" at all, as these are just another one of those cyclist things that don't get much attention. I would talk about "repeatedly having to repair damage to your bike caused by the condition of the road". Also, if you can find some youtube videos showing cyclists losing control on similar surfaces you could add the URLs with a caption something along the lines of "This exact situation has resulted in numerous accidents and injuries as can be seen on these videos". I seem to remember from another recent post on this board that someone mentioned councils having liability for damages if they don't maintain the roads after being notified (I would assume that this would apply to RMS as well)
Also, in the letter mention that you are a commuter, that this is your daily trip to work, and re-iterate that it is not a choice as to where or when you ride as it is purely around getting to work and back. (this can go some way to quash responses that will try to push you into finding a solution, such as "can't you ride on the dedicated cycling facilities").
Other options should that fail are to start sending them repair bills, or to start riding on the road and get a friend to call the cops (and then give the cops a copy of the council's response).
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Re: Who is responsible for the road shoulders that we ride o
Postby grantw » Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:38 pm
Not that I don't have faith in the RMS


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Who is responsible for the road shoulders that we ride on
Postby ozdavo » Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:58 pm
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Re: Who is responsible for the road shoulders that we ride o
Postby hewey » Fri Jun 29, 2012 2:14 pm

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Re: Who is responsible for the road shoulders that we ride o
Postby Mugglechops » Sun Jul 01, 2012 10:46 pm
Seems to work as they come and do it. Its no major hwy though.

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Re: Who is responsible for the road shoulders that we ride o
Postby bychosis » Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:02 pm
Not that it isn't worth trying.
Tubeless?
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Re: Who is responsible for the road shoulders that we ride o
Postby AUbicycles » Mon Jul 02, 2012 12:34 am
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Re: Who is responsible for the road shoulders that we ride o
Postby gretaboy » Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:32 am
Maybe just maybe, when the cost of fuel goes through the roof, over $2 or such and more people may move around via bicycle mode, the councils may then think about looking after cyclists needs as well.
I have got new tyres on order and am just waiting for them to arrive.
PS. I tried to ride to work yesterday morning, got about 15 k's into my ride and bam, another flat. Found a nice curved bit of metal and a rock embedded into the tyre, havent checked yet to see which one may have caused the flat. Got the recovery vehicle to get me.

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Who is responsible for the road shoulders that we ride on
Postby ozzymac » Fri Jul 06, 2012 12:45 pm
None of my rural roads have any sort of shoulder, and the part of the new England highway I use sometimes has a small shoulder, but then every few kms they have those annoying noise making lines and there not much fun to ride over.
Cheers
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