Kwinana PSP Works-Mill Point Rd River Wall

[Thoglette]

Drivers DO experience this sort of stuff. Big time. And over much longer periods of time - years, not months.

I can just about define each of my regular car commutes over the last by the major roadworks which afflicted them. I've managed to cop both lots of work on the Kwinana freeway (2003 and 2011), suffered Great Eastern Hwy (before discovering Guildford road) and now have found the fun at West Leederville with my latest return to the car

[cray-]

This detour is really bothering me. A whole month is such a long time and the detour is rather inconvenient, especially the "official" detour which goes down Mends St.

I took the Medes Street detour the other week (been a bit lazy lately), it added approx 3mins to my commute, some of which was waiting for traffic lights. I think you need to chill out and direct your energy at a more worthy cause. Colin is right about motorists, the Kwinana widening works have been going on for ages making some of my regular journeys 2-3 times longer (+20-40mins). All the more reason to catch the train or ride my bike.

Perhaps the state govt needs to adapt it's Enjoy The Ride campaign to include cyclists.

[rodneythellama]

I took the Medes Street detour the other week (been a bit lazy lately), it added approx 3mins to my commute, some of which was waiting for traffic lights. I think you need to chill out and direct your energy at a more worthy cause. Colin is right about motorists, the Kwinana widening works have been going on for ages making some of my regular journeys 2-3 times longer (+20-40mins). All the more reason to catch the train or ride my bike.

Perhaps the state govt needs to adapt it's Enjoy The Ride campaign to include cyclists.

3 mins sounds very approximate to me. I never said I didn't enjoy riding the detour. Yes riding in the ad-hoc cycling group at the lights is kind of fun. What actually bothers me is that such detours reflect the low priority cyclists are given by the government. If cycling were more important then main roads would have made the contractors work while keeping 1 lane of the path open.

I was going to let Colin's example stand but since you mentioned it, IMO it's a poor comparison. The end result of the freeway widening will be more lanes which benefits the inconvenienced motorists. I believe the PSP is also diverted as a result of the widening. There is no diversion of the freeway and two lanes are open which is still pretty good. If the traffic isn't jammed at Leach Hwy then it will get jammed at Canning Bridge anyway. The end result of these river wall works will be the same bumpy path, with no benefit for its users.

[wellington_street]

I would've thought the end of result of the works is the path not falling into the river during the next big storm

[rodneythellama]

Heh, well yes that's a benefit but I would count that as normal repair not an improvement.

I was also wondering whether this month-long repair job is required because maintenance has been neglected during the life of the wall? This is just speculation of course. For example, to protect the wall, could rocks be dropped into the water next to it to prevent the waves from digging under it?

[Phil]

If cycling were more important then main roads would have made the contractors work while keeping 1 lane of the path open.

Not sure that this is not a helluva lot more dangerous than the detour.

[rodneythellama]

If cycling were more important then main roads would have made the contractors work while keeping 1 lane of the path open.

Not sure that this is not a helluva lot more dangerous than the detour.

Like I said before, there are 2 contractors standing idle just watching the detour. They could be controlling traffic with stop/slow signs. Surely whatever machinery is involved in repairing the wall wouldn't be blocking the path all the time?

[ColinOldnCranky]

If cycling were more important then main roads would have made the contractors work while keeping 1 lane of the path open.

Not sure that this is not a helluva lot more dangerous than the detour.

Like I said before, there are 2 contractors standing idle just watching the detour. They could be controlling traffic with stop/slow signs. Surely whatever machinery is involved in repairing the wall wouldn't be blocking the path all the time?

Rodney - I think you have been stretching for a few posts. More and more your expectations of actions that the contractor and others could/should do are in excess of what is being asked of the cyclists to do - to take a detour and lose ten or fifteen minutes a day for a couple of months.

Yeah, maybe it isn't such a big ask that they do some traffic duties. On th eother hand is it such a big deal to ask US to take a detour for a while?

And I still can't understand how you managed to differentiate between the burden imposed on motorists by road works and that imposed on us. Again stretching methinks.

Just keep riding and maybe even rejoice in a bit of variety for the time being. I'm accepting the challenge of pushing over a steep and tight bend and it 's doing me a power of good.

It'll be finished eventually. And hopefully within the time frame stated.

(Notwithstanding your other points about doing some other much needed work while they are there.)

[Baalzamon]

I think it's more a duty of care safety aspects. They are protecting themselves in case something happens

[ColinOldnCranky]

I bumped into Rodney this morning. Nice to see a face.

I can't see the detour adding much effort to your ride - you loked pretty fit and lean to me.

cu again sometime.

[rodneythellama]

OK maybe you guys have a point. But for me this detour is the latest evidence that main roads aren't motivated to take care of cyclists and this time I'm agitated enough to whinge online.

Thanks for the compliment regarding leanness, Colin. I think a little bit of cycling/unicycling every day takes care of that quite well.

But I also think any rational person in Perth would get their fitness elsewhere and drive to work because driving infrastructure is much better and it's safer too. This is an IMO tragic consequence of the car being number 1 here.