Sydney Harbour Bridge Painting Works Safety

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trailgumby
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Sydney Harbour Bridge Painting Works Safety

Postby trailgumby » Thu May 17, 2018 7:59 pm

I met with a friend of mine from BNSW today and was asked what I thought about cyclist safety around the timber structure enclosing the lead paint remediation works going on along the cycleway for the next 18 months or so.

BNSW has been proactive with getting the contractors to be mindful of cyclists safety with their work site (eg, being more careful laying out their cones, placing warnings and speed signs etc) which has resulted in some improvement in safety around this structure.

However, there are still ongoing issues. One rider broke their shoulder in a collision in the last few days, and I would not be surprised to hear of other collisions and injuries as the sight lines are very poor due to the curve. One thought was mirrors, but the curve is too shallow for them to be effective in my view.

So I'd like to throw it open for ideas. What can be done to improve safety around this timber structure until the works are finished?

AndrewCowley
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Re: Sydney Harbour Bridge Painting Works Safety

Postby AndrewCowley » Thu May 17, 2018 10:45 pm

It is what it is. Don't really see how it can be made less worse. Rider awareness is the key, so the safety of it is really up to us.

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familyguy
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Re: Sydney Harbour Bridge Painting Works Safety

Postby familyguy » Fri May 18, 2018 10:35 am

I actually think the cones go too far around now that the unit appears to have moved northward towards the curve. You can't see around to the end of the cones, which means by the time you are in the chute, someone else could well be also. I've had a couple of encounters where someone has had to stop or divert back to the 'wrong' side of the cones, nothing major. But I've also seen enough numpties flogging it towards and through the cone-zone without a care to expect a bad crash to happen sooner or later.

What exactly is the unit for? Are they repainting the handrail at that area? It looks like it folds below the bridge deck and underneath the path. Is there one on the pedestrian side as well?

Jim

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ft_critical
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Re: Sydney Harbour Bridge Painting Works Safety

Postby ft_critical » Fri May 18, 2018 11:25 am

TG, seriously, what could make it safer is a brain transplant for the fools who ride down slope too fast. No-one can make it safer from those who are stupid - they are on the bikes.

The problem is that those with the pro-peloton handling and spatial awareness don't understand that there are much less adept riders who they might need to pass in the narrowest spot.

Why everyone thinks it is societies responsibility to protect against every human stupidity based eventuality is a mystery to me. On this very forum somewhere is the thread about traffic lights etc stopping people from thinking and being largely unnecessary... hazard for cyclists by dumbing down drivers. So please don't suggest traffic lights as a safety measure on the bridge!

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find_bruce
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Re: Sydney Harbour Bridge Painting Works Safety

Postby find_bruce » Fri May 18, 2018 11:47 am

familyguy wrote:What exactly is the unit for? Are they repainting the handrail at that area? It looks like it folds below the bridge deck and underneath the path. Is there one on the pedestrian side as well?

Jim
They are removing all of the lead paint from the bridge - not just the handrails or the main deck, but the entire thing. The box is intended to contain the lead debris & yes there is a similar one on the eastern side. There is more info on the RMS site

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Re: Sydney Harbour Bridge Painting Works Safety

Postby AndrewCowley » Fri May 18, 2018 12:25 pm

The cones extend as far as they do because they are there to give the workers a walkway from the elevator that is south of the work site to the work site itself. This is why despite the work site moving the cones still go as far south as they used to.

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queequeg
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Re: Sydney Harbour Bridge Painting Works Safety

Postby queequeg » Fri May 18, 2018 12:52 pm

About the only thing I could see ensuring no issues would be a stop/go light at each end during the morning and afternoon peak usage. Outside of those hours the chances of two riders passing in the affected section are not very high, but other than making sure everyone slows down through the affected section, an alternating flow is the only thing I can see working, despite the delays this might introduce.
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familyguy
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Re: Sydney Harbour Bridge Painting Works Safety

Postby familyguy » Fri May 18, 2018 12:56 pm

AndrewCowley wrote:The cones extend as far as they do because they are there to give the workers a walkway from the elevator that is south of the work site to the work site itself. This is why despite the work site moving the cones still go as far south as they used to.
The fact that they go north beyond the work zone is a bit odd. If they are getting from lift to work enclosure, they don't need to go that far north. I get the WH&S issues, but the safety of riders is compromised by making the cone area so long with no vision.

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Re: Sydney Harbour Bridge Painting Works Safety

Postby AndrewCowley » Fri May 18, 2018 1:42 pm

Can only guess that the cones go north to create a blend zone to warn riders going south that the conditions ahead are different.

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Re: Sydney Harbour Bridge Painting Works Safety

Postby Nate » Thu May 24, 2018 1:29 pm

ft_critical wrote:TG, seriously, what could make it safer is a brain transplant for the fools who ride down slope too fast. No-one can make it safer from those who are stupid - they are on the bikes.
nailed it. (maybe)
Maybe it was an oncoming person being an idiot & they were being careful?
How hard/fast must you be going to break a shoulder?!?

as long as everyone is slow & polite it works fine... not sure how to achieve that without being silly & restrictive

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Re: Sydney Harbour Bridge Painting Works Safety

Postby mikesbytes » Thu May 24, 2018 3:03 pm

Is the box the same as the one a few years back? It seemed to me that it could of been designed to be flat with the fence, ie not intrude in to the cycleway
If the R-1 rule is broken, what happens to N+1?

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