Bollards
On the way back from the winter ride I took a detour and went past the airport.
( the lengths some people will go to to avoid the shame of being last)
It seems there is a bike path that goes from near Ikea to Tapleys Hill Road.
There is a nice new bridge near Tapleys Hill Road intersection.
it also appears that many of the bridges across the drains in the area have been upgraded.
It appears our tax dollars have been at work providing some facilitys that are not primarily made for cars.
Ideally should these bollards have some reflective markings on them to make them more visible at night?
What is the best way to make this happen?
In the meantime if you are using pedestrian /cycling bridges at night beware of bollards.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by heather on -
Jilden, it is also a requirement of Austroads to make bollards on cycle paths very visible. See my post below.
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Permalink Reply by Don (Who's lost?) Nairn on -
I would think that the cost of some reflective tape even compared to the cost of a minor accident were the person only needed a few days off work it seems likely that the tape would be cost effective.
While I would agree that people need to be careful providing as safe an environment as possible seems sensible.
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Permalink Reply by Jilden on -
Heather, while I agree that under correct procedures Council should jump to it and fix up a reflector or two, in the real world, how long will it take? DIY may be quicker and cheaper all round, maybe save some poor sucker from being skittled by the bollards in poor light.
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Permalink Reply by heather on
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Don, extract of my report
West Torrens Council csu@wtcc.sa.gov.au
Dept of Planning, Transport & Infrastructure DPTI.EnquiriesAdministrator@sa.gov.au
[and a third person]I am aware of 7 places where bollards on shared / cycle paths need to be made more visible, with white paint and/or reflective strips. I would appreciate a response on which authority is responsible for the locations below, and when these will be rectified.
Heather, Coordinator of Adelaide BUG (Bicycle User Group)West Torrens. Cycling hazard of bollards. Please refer to a discussion with photos on Adelaide Cyclists forum at http://www.adelaidecyclists.com/forum/topics/bollards Geo-tagged photo 1 at http://www.panoramio.com/photo/73902290 indicates near intersection of Sir Donald Bradman Drive and Tapleys Hill Road in Airport Area and West Torrens Council. The two silver bollards require red reflective strips. Geo-tagged photo 2 at http://www.panoramio.com/photo/7390227 indicates in West Richmond and West Torrens Council. The 3 (or 4) dark green bollards need to be painted white, and reflective strips add, either silver or preferably silver and red. Please note that cycling lights are dim compared with car headlights, and cyclists might not notice the bollards in time. Quoting Austroads, 1999, page 144: “Are fixed objects close to or on the path treated to ensure visibility at night (e.g. painted white and fitted with reflectors or reflective tape)?” Sighted on 17-Jun-2012. Reported on 17-Jun-2012 to West Torrens Council, DPTI & OCW.
The cyclist that took the 2 photos stated that he saw another offending bollard, but did not take a photo due to rain.
I am concerned about what seems to be a recent tendency not to clearly mark bollards on bicycle / shared paths . . . [referred to other locations]
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Permalink Reply by Bec on -
This was a great route that I used to take the kiddies out on, I do hope that cyclists riding in poor light are being responsible and have good lights on there bikes bollards aren't the only thing you have to worry about
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Permalink Reply by heather on
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Bec, appropriate to have good lights at night, but what about the cyclist who does not have dual (back-up) lights when the battery discharges? Actually I got caught out one wet winter's night when both batteries for both lights discharged, although was nearly home by then so cycled on the footpath. However, it was unpleasant experience cycling with traffic when for most of the trip had to rely on my legal but dim 0.5W light. Usually cycle with very bright helmet light on steady and the smaller light on flash.
Vehicles have much brighter lights but on highways Transport provides for drivers with lights on poles, cat eyes or white lines marking the road edge. So reasonable to expect authorities to follow Austroads for cyclists.
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Permalink Reply by Rob (Chewbacca) on -
Hopefully Tuesday night I will get a photo of a really dangerous bollard or a missing one which has been cut off leaving a 2inch stump above ground....ouch to anyone that hits it :(
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Permalink Reply by heather on
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Rob, you might like to include a tape measure and foot in the photo to indicate the height (or lack of it) of the bollard. Please get details like city, suburb, cycle path and closest streets to help the authority locate the hazard. Or enough info so I can work this out. Depending on which cycle path, the responsible authority will be a council or DPTI. I can help you there.
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Permalink Reply by MarkK on -
on a lighter note, I remeber crossing the bridge in the second photo when i was a kid, but back then the bridge was so skinny that I struggled to get the handlebars of my banana bike through.
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Permalink Reply by heather on
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And probably no go for attached child trailers. There are pedestrian crossings on the Glenelg tramline where it would be difficult to get a child trailer, cargo trailer, cargo bike or tandem through. An example of authorities still not catering for cyclists with good designs. For the trainline crossings I encounter, can use the road instead of the pedestrian crossing, but AC members might know of difficult trainline crossings.
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Permalink Reply by durian rider on -
Is this you?
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Permalink Reply by heather on
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Good news. Today I received the following email from West Torrens Council.
Thank you for your email advising of areas with visual deficiencies across the City of West Torrens’ bicycle network. These facilities are maintained by local government and will be followed up and assessed. Retro reflective tape has been applied to the bollards near Fleet Street as described in your email. Over the next month an audit will be carried out across our bicycle network to ensure a consistent and safe approach to our bollard placement and presentation. The other hazards described in your subsequent email will be assessed as part of this audit.
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