M5 Safety Alert Thread

[hannos]

F5 from narellan Rd northbound.
The No Bicycle signs have been removed from the on-ramp. I also did not see any at the Campbelltown Rd on-Ramp (northbound).

So I'm assuming there's a nice fresh piece of hotmix waiting to be ridden!


Unfortunately, Southbound is still closed to cyclists.

Correction.

Southbound appears to be open all the way to narellan Rd!

WOOHOO! Can't wait to ride the new ashphalt!

[meridaman]

Saw a group of 4 or 5 guys riding single file at a pretty decent speed at Moorebank Ave westbound this morning about 9:10am, all in "Korea" marked clothing, not their national team or anything was it??

[Wayfarer]

Saw a group of 4 or 5 guys riding single file at a pretty decent speed at Moorebank Ave westbound this morning about 9:10am, all in "Korea" marked clothing, not their national team or anything was it??

Ahh, it's about time those guys got in the bike lane.. On the M7 they used to take up a full lane on the way to uni

[Kev365428]

Caution required on the M5 now with all the roadworks going on for the widening of the motorway.

The breakdown lane heading east between the M7 interchange and Fairford Road has been reduced in width. Added to that is the fact that it is now full of debris, particularly pebbles and grit from where they have ground off the old line markings to reduce the width of the lanes.

Might send an email to the operators requesting additional sweeping of the lane.

Kev.

[Kev365428]

OK, sent tham an email and also rang the 1-800 number listed for cyclists.

Have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by the girl on the phone. She listened and agreed with my evaluation of the issues surrounding cyclists during the roadworks.
She is going to request increased sweeping activities during the roadworks, and will also inform me via email of any significant changes that will affect my commute along the motorway.

Good result I reckon.

Kev.

[NhiTrac]

OK, sent tham an email and also rang the 1-800 number listed for cyclists.

Have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by the girl on the phone. She listened and agreed with my evaluation of the issues surrounding cyclists during the roadworks.
She is going to request increased sweeping activities during the roadworks, and will also inform me via email of any significant changes that will affect my commute along the motorway.

Good result I reckon.

Kev.

Thanks for that Kev.

I noticed that too this week though I think it's much worse on the way back (from Bexley North). Was just thinking tonight that they should've ran a sweeper after they scratched up the surface to remove the old painted lines...

I'm also wondering how how the road up from King Georges to Bexley North will play out when they supposedly make it three lanes each way. Hope they don't take away that shoulder!

Anyway you ride the M5 much? I've been on it for about three or four days a week this year and hardly see anyone cept for an old guy I seldom bump into. Is that you?

[MREJ]

I got a flat on Monday just after the King George's Rd off-lane. A huge explosion and almost instantly flat. A nail.

I turn off at H Lawson Drive. Between there and the tunnel, I thought the road was pretty clean heading west, but not as good heading east.

Marcus

[Kev365428]

Agree with you Marcus - debris in the breakdown lane is much worse heading east.

Nhitrac, the widening will stop at KGR, so you'll still have a breakdown lane and lots of traffic to the tunnel entrance heading east.

I try to commute 3-4 times a week, but it doesn't always work out that way for me. Heading east, I'm at KGR anywhere betwen 5:30am and 5:50am, depending on what time I get up. Heading west I'm at KGR between 3:00pm and 3:20pm, sometime a little earlier.

Old bloke????? Can't be me.

Kev.

[MREJ]

Hi Kev
Do you race with Macarthur by any chance? I was there on Sunday, in a Waratahs jersey. It's a nice fast course.
Marcus

[Kev365428]

Sure do Marcus, although I wasn't racing last Sunday.

I'll keep an eye out for you next time.

Kev.

[MREJ]

Thanks Kev. I'll only be occasional, but if you see a Waratah in B grade, that could well be me.

[ggood82]

HI all

Former forum lurker and runner come avid commuter from Lugarno to CBD with my first post

Rode the M5 on friday 26/10/2012 mid morning from King georges road, Beverly hills down to Camden and back.

Just before the Narrelen road Exit near the overpass there is a heap of Truck radial on the shoulder which is very hard to avoid and slivers of metal on the shoulder

2 Flats later i was back on & riding back to Hurstville . Shoulder was pretty good the whole way back for the 100KM round trip .

Will be doing this again Saturday morning 5am & will let you know if it is any cleaner

[NhiTrac]

HI all

Former forum lurker and runner come avid commuter from Lugarno to CBD with my first post

Rode the M5 on friday 26/10/2012 mid morning from King georges road, Beverly hills down to Camden and back.

Just before the Narrelen road Exit near the overpass there is a heap of Truck radial on the shoulder which is very hard to avoid and slivers of metal on the shoulder

2 Flats later i was back on & riding back to Hurstville . Shoulder was pretty good the whole way back for the 100KM round trip .

Will be doing this again Saturday morning 5am & will let you know if it is any cleaner

Welcome

I ride from the Ingleburn ramp to Bexley North and back on most days. There was a lot of debris due to the road work but I believe they've sent out a sweeper as its been much cleaner in the last few days.

Might see you around. If you see a fat guy with lights galore, that'd be me

[ggood82]

HI all

Former forum lurker and runner come avid commuter from Lugarno to CBD with my first post

Rode the M5 on friday 26/10/2012 mid morning from King georges road, Beverly hills down to Camden and back.

Just before the Narrelen road Exit near the overpass there is a heap of Truck radial on the shoulder which is very hard to avoid and slivers of metal on the shoulder

2 Flats later i was back on & riding back to Hurstville . Shoulder was pretty good the whole way back for the 100KM round trip .

Will be doing this again Saturday morning 5am & will let you know if it is any cleaner

Welcome

I ride from the Ingleburn ramp to Bexley North and back on most days. There was a lot of debris due to the road work but I believe they've sent out a sweeper as its been much cleaner in the last few days.

Might see you around. If you see a fat guy with lights galore, that'd be me

Hahaha Sounds like you should be easy to spot then with all the lights etc .

It will be good to see someone else out there as it gets pretty lonely on the Shoulder lane .....

We are actually building at Gregory hills so come a month or so and i will be communting to the CBD via the M5 Emergency lane ......... I am sure i will see you out there eventually

[hannos]

Ingleburn soundbound shoulder.
From the top of the hill to Brooks Rd, there's a tonne of debris on the shoulder.

[BigBadWOLF]

Rode the M5 saturday westbound and heaps of loose gravel between fairford rd and river rd.

[BigBadWOLF]

any done ridden M5 westbound recently know how clean the shoulders are.

they were terrible last time i rode it

[wombatK]

As of last Sunday, shoulders eastbound from Fairford Rd to Belmore Rd had heaps of gravel
from the scraper used to remove the old markings. Pity they couldn't have got a
sweeper to clean it up decently. It's not really a puncture hazard, fairly unpleasant to ride
across on 23mm slicks at speed. Westbound didn't seem as bad IMHO.

Biggest worry is that the on-ramps and off-ramps between River Rd and Belmore Rd are now slimmer,
and not as long. Less margin for motorists error, and in wet weather and/or at night, some motorists
might not track where they should be correctly.

[Kev365428]

A quick look at the M5 website showed that they had scheduled sweeping for Anzac Day.
As I have not ridden the M5 since Wednesday 24th, I was wondering if anyone else can confirm the sweeping took place?

Kev.

[Kev365428]

Well, I sent an email off to the M5 mob on Monday regarding the amount of debris on the shoulder.
Got the following reply today -

Hi Kevin,

Thank you for your email to the M5 West Widening Team about the gravel and debris in the shoulder of the motorway.

We value feedback from motorists and cyclists and continue to look at ways of improving our processes.
Although we have two street sweepers working every shift to clean up debris on the site vehicle access tracks in the median and shoulders of the motorway, we have sourced a new street sweeper company to take over the job to ensure the motorway is kept clean.
Debris is a constant concern to us and our incident response team are kept busy removing large and small items that end up on the motorway from over 125,000 vehicles that use the motorway daily.

Hopefully with the new company engaged, you will start to see an improvement along the motorway.

Thank you once again for your feedback, if you have any other questions or need more information, please email again or call the Community Hotline on 1800 986 933 (free call).

Kin Regards,

M5 West Widening Team.


I rode the M5 today on the way into work, and there was a marked improvement in the reduction of gravel on the shoulder.

Kev.

[wombatK]

Well, I sent an email off to the M5 mob on Monday regarding the amount of debris on the shoulder.
Got the following reply today...

I rode the M5 today on the way into work, and there was a marked improvement in the reduction of gravel on the shoulder.

Kev.

Kudos to you Kev - looking forward to the improvement on my M5 Sunday ride.

[MREJ]

Thanks Kev - I rode it yesterday (Wednesday) and there were quite a few little stones, but almost no other debris.

I was riding home in the dark yesterday and the narrowness of the breakdown lane is a bit of a worry in some sections! Looking forward to completion of the works - does anyone know the timeframe for that?