SOP Safety Alert Thread

[thomashouseman]

It looked to be unintentionally open... there is a ton of gear lying around, excavators and the like.

There are also signs up on the gate to report to site office. Not sure people were meant to be wandering around in there.

Yup, closed off again when I investigated yesterday. Wish they'd hurry up!

[wombatK]

Yup, closed off again when I investigated yesterday. Wish they'd hurry up!

Approximately open today. Approaching from the Southern End, the path closest to the shore was still fenced off,
but the next path about 10 m east of that was open. A tradesman was working on the finishing touches to
some fencing along the path.

But really, the path is finished and perfectly safe for all intents and purposes, and far safer than riding
the alternative route down Walker St. More than a few pedestrians/runners were using it around lunch-time today.

There are no barriers to entry along the side roads like Meredith Ave and Darling Ave. There is a small area of broken paving on the edge of the path near the Meredith Ave entrance, but that could very easily be fenced off. Its easily
seen and avoided. There's a concrete barrier on the north-eastern entrance to the path (under the railway bridge),
but it's very easily bypassed.

Would be nice to see if officially open, but anyone who treats it as practically open is going to be safer than riding
the alternate paths.

Cheers

[thomashouseman]

Tried this out today. I like it! Way better than riding past the station!
Very accessible. Looks officially opened at the southern end and almost open (they just need a forklift to remove the single barrier in place there).

T.

Edit: Felt sorry for the stripped Beamer under the bridge at the end.

[wombatK]

Edit: Felt sorry for the stripped Beamer under the bridge at the end.

I didn't. I can be pretty hard hearted when it comes to Beemers. Probably an insurance job

[AndrewBurns]

Rode it this afternoon and didn't like it, the path along the water was nice but there were peds and dogs wandering all over the place so I had to essentially stop several times. At one point there was even somebody dragging an inflatable raft up onto the path.

I'll try it again tomorrow on the way into work to see if it's better in the morning but so far I'd rather ride on the road with the cars.

[thomashouseman]

Rode it this afternoon and didn't like it, the path along the water was nice but there were peds and dogs wandering all over the place so I had to essentially stop several times. At one point there was even somebody dragging an inflatable raft up onto the path.

I'll try it again tomorrow on the way into work to see if it's better in the morning but so far I'd rather ride on the road with the cars.

I found the path a tad to the side of it better rather than the actual waterside bit full of peds.

[wombatK]

Rode it this afternoon and didn't like it, the path along the water was nice but there were peds and dogs wandering all over the place so I had to essentially stop several times. At one point there was even somebody dragging an inflatable raft up onto the path.

I'll try it again tomorrow on the way into work to see if it's better in the morning but so far I'd rather ride on the road with the cars.

There was an odd wandering dog when I last rode it (Friday afternoon peak hour), but they were much less trouble than
the risk of door-openers and traffic leaving parking spots along the road route. The pathway is really quite wide through
the new section, and its only the old section where I've had issues.

So far, there's no signs indicating it is a shared path and not an off-leash area. That is a significant contributor
to the errant (ignorant) behavior of a few wanderers, and ought to improve if Council addresses the issues. Signage
might need to be in multiple languages, as the worst offenders are walk-on-right people who act as if their old
country rules are ok here.

[AndrewBurns]

Rode it the other direction this morning, path was better when it was mostly empty but still got told to slow down by some guy with his dog off the leash as I rode by, weird thing is that he was looking straight at me for 50m so he was going to say that no matter how fast I was going, I guess I do look fast but that's not my fault

The end with the barrier under the bridge was crap though, on my CX bike it would have been ok but I was on my road bike with thin race-stye tyres so I had to be very very cautious over all the gravel, broken concrete and glass, kinda suprised I didn't get a puncture actually. Think I'll be sticking to the road on the way home and turning off the path early on the way in to avoid that section.

[tubby74]

was on that path earlier this week. i can see what they aimed to do by having the shared path set back from the waterside path, but wonder if that wll mean more people wandering across, and cyclists preferring to use the waterside section anyway. still better than going past the construction sites along the railway

[wombatK]

The area of broken path near the Meredith Ave entrance has gotten larger - so look out for it.

There were a handful of cyclists using it around 5:30 pm today, and no pedestrains. Except
for one lame-brain who was trying to launch a kite along the waterside shared path. So he had about
15 metres of strings laid out along the path, with the kite on the ground, and a fairly stiff
side wind threatening to pick it all up and tangle it in any passing cyclists wheels. There was
quite a reasonable area of grass far more suited to the purpose just up from the path.

The kite-pilot was not a kid - but obviously missed his childhood and not been around
when the brains were handed out.

[tubby74]

Went through there on Wednesday and was another kid flying a kit with his mum, one of them on the waterside path with the string and one on the cycle path with the kite.

[thomashouseman]

....and it's that time of year again:

Sydney Telstra 500 V8 Supercar Motor Race Overview
Detailed Build Notices for week 1 & 2.

Road changes and closures for the event build and deconstruction:
Event Build
Beginning on 8 Oct and will go through until 30 Nov.
Closure of Australia Ave on 15 Oct until 20 Oct and 19 Nov until 8 Dec.
Contra traffic flow on Australia Av (Eastern carriageway) on 21 Oct until 19 Nov and 8 Dec until 23 Dec.
Change to bus service routes on 5 Nov until 8 Dec.
Closure of Olympic Boulevard on 19 Nov until 8 Dec.

[bradman]

I rode along the foreshore north-bound on Wednesday at lunchtime and there were two kite-flyers standing in the middle of the path that day too. Didn't seem to mind that they were blocking my way as I approached either.
I got almost to the railway bridge and went up the pathway ramp to the car underpass and then about 100 metres up Blaxland road to the entry point of the railway overbridge. That took me over to Meadowbank Park and allowed me to go along the northern shoreline. Not a bad little route...

[tubby74]

there's an awful lot of tree debris in the cycle lanes today. Race prep squeezes things in places. Some of the concrete barriers are on top of the kerb, but the run off sections the barrier sits on the road surface so the cycle lane is probably too small to use.

[wombatK]

Did some loops around SOP after 5 pm today, and didn't find any trouble. Maybe if you were there earlier in the day, you'd have to contend with the course construction crews and their work, but in the late afternoon it was OK.

Australia Ave is now closed for the race preps, and that makes it a little quieter around the northern side of the Showground/Acer. The only real squeeze on the cycle lane is at the corner of the Ibis Budget hotel (formerly the Formula 1), but its not too uncomfortable. Still much better than most other places around town.

[Hergest]

If you approach the SOP from the cycleway at the back of Bunnings Lidcombe that goes under the M4 and has those really sharp double U-bends cutting around the gas pipes that joins on to Louis Sauvage Pathway, be aware that the council has been spreading mulch and there's a fair bit of it on the path as you come around one of the bends. It's always best to be careful there anyway but worth taking it even more carefully for a day or two. The path was a bit dodgy this morning at 6.30.