Mt Lofty Bollards - Clever or Death Trap

I rode the Mt Lofty Bollards on Sunday (the first time in months) and notice they have extended the walking path by shrinking the bike track, obviously this has been done to make it safer for the odd walker but decending is now clearly a death trap.

Countless rocks, twigs, mud puddles and even weeds growing up to 50cm in the middle of the path all at 40k/mh+.

I stopped and watched cyclists for a while and out of the 12 cyclists who decended, not one of them stayed in the down track, so how can this improvemnt be considered safe if everyone now decends in the up track?

 

 

 

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Permalink Reply by MarkK on June 18, 2012 at 16:01

I think it's unrealistic to state distance as a factor because cycling is all about drafting, but lets say you leave a 30m gap if you rode in a bunch of 20 riders you would stretch over half a kilo.

Permalink Reply by Patrick O'Kane on June 18, 2012 at 19:05

I'm not sure "cycling is all about drafting" is a wise or correct statement. Drafting does have it's place for sure but. I would argue that drafting on a descent like the Freeway path is of little or no benefit and is probably stupid and dangerous.

Permalink Reply by greg looyestyn on June 18, 2012 at 11:48

DTEI.tmc@sa.gov.au from memory

Permalink Reply by heather on June 18, 2012 at 12:00

Has been replaced with DPTI.EnquiriesAdministrator@sa.gov.au

Will send my draft email now from Adelaide BUG, with link to this post. Andrew, can you provide a better description of the location?

Permalink Reply by greg looyestyn on June 18, 2012 at 12:09

thanks for the update, heather. see you on saturday.

Permalink Reply by greg looyestyn on June 18, 2012 at 12:08

It was so foggy this morning coming down i couldnt make out any plants growing in the pathway!

Only saw one other fool  fellow cyclist on the way down. he had a good tail light- nice and bright.

Didn't meet anyone climbing up.

Permalink Reply by heather on June 18, 2012 at 12:33

I sent an amended report with REPLACE in the email subject.

Adelaide Hills, Crafers West, Crafers Bikeway with cycle path. Cycling hazard of maintenance (weeds and leaves that are slippery when wet). Cycling hazard of poor signage. Near Princess Highway and South Eastern Freeway. Near Hawk Hill Road and Hillcrest Road. See post, map and photos at http://www.adelaidecyclists.com/forum/topics/mt-lofty-bollards-clev... A downhill track that can be wet. In the photo, one of the lanes has sprouting weeds and is collecting weeds (potential to be slippery for cyclists when wet from rain and run-off). A cyclist states that this is supposed to be the downhill cycle path and requires better maintenance. Insufficient pedestrian symbols and directional arrows on this shared path. The short dead-end pedestrian path needs symbols painted, and signs added. Like end-of-walking path, do not proceed on cycle path but turn around. Potential hazard if cyclist on downhill encounters pedestrian on wrong side and on cycle path. If bicycle symbols and directional arrows added to this shared path, please ensure in skid-free paint. Reported on 18-Jun-2012 to DPTI.

Permalink Reply by Matt Jones on June 18, 2012 at 16:11

One thing of note is that I have never seen a walker on this path, I dont know why they would choose this path when there are plenty of off road paths through Cleland which are much more suited to walking. Maybe it should be changed to a riders only path.

Permalink Reply by MarkK on June 18, 2012 at 16:18

exactly Matt, there's no walking tracks from the toll gate to 2km from the top so why is there one for the last 2kms. Plus isnt there a fire track inside the fence that runs parrallel for the last 1km

Permalink Reply by heather on June 18, 2012 at 16:29

From Andrew's description, this sounds the most sensible thing to do. Currently one of the bicycle tracks is positioned such that it catches leaves (slippery when wet). Replace the short walking path with a bicycle lane. Move the bicycle lanes over away from where the leaves build up. Will you contact Transport with this suggestion, and ask for their response? DPTI.EnquiriesAdministrator@sa.gov.au

Permalink Reply by MarkK on June 19, 2012 at 11:16

I will try and get there this weekend and take some more detailed photos and point out a few more black spots that are on that track.

Permalink Reply by Matt Jones on June 18, 2012 at 16:30

I think the track you're referring to is the Pioneer Womens trail , which basically comes out at the bollards, if the walkers take that it mirrors the track for quite a period.

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