Road conditions

[bert56]

Hi all,

After a return trip from Gladstone (Qld) to Rockhampton today we discovered exactly how bad the Bruce Highway is around here.

Between Rocky and Mt Larcom ( 77 kms ) there were at least 12 roadworks set up, some were over a km long.

I believe that everyone is entitled to a safe workplace and realise the work needs to be done, but I can't understand why speed restrictions (40-60 kms/h) on some roadworks needed to be 2 kms from anyone working on the road repair. All roadworks closed 1 lane, leaving just the 1 lane for both directions. I believe we had people passing dangerously just out of frustration with the number of stops and the way the signage for the roadworks was set up. This distance took us over 1.5 hours to cover.

I have driven to Cairns in 2011 and 2012 for the cape trips and no where north of Rocky was as bad as this section. It seems to get worse every time I drive over it.

I would like to know if anyone has come across sections of any highway similar to this.


Bert

[Brucer]

Agree. I'm often frustrated by "Road Works" signs and associated speed limits where no actual road works appear to be in progress. Not a person or piece of machinery in sight.... just signs.

[Bird]

...where no actual road works appear to be in progress. Not a person or piece of machinery in sight.... just signs.

x everynumber on earth
There was a thingy on a remote country road on tele few years back where they "forgot" to take the road works signs and the cop just sat there on weekends.

[Brij]

There was a thingy on a remote country road on tele few years back where they "forgot" to take the road works signs and the cop just sat there on weekends

Possibly the Great Alpine Road between Bruthen and Omeo. Heard the same rumor  from some local "enforcement" personal.

I gather the officer involved thought he was doing a great service to the community.

Re long stretches of road works - I don't wont to condone this activity, nor am I an expert in civil works, but put your self in the shoes of the workers. They have a number of jobs to do throughout the day over that length of road, each job requiring particular safety margins for that short section of road, each particular section of road may have to be revisited numerous times throughout the day, to remove signs/return traffic to two way flow etc and then set up signs etc in another section may take 1/2hour or more each time, this very quickly eats into your working day.
Also (in Vic, assume the same in other states) all the signage/speed restrictions etc has to be set up with the correct placards at the correct point (measured down to the meter) for each section of road work as per a plan (has an acronym which I can't remember at the moment) that has to be preapproved for that particular job by the road authority. Multiple road work sections would require multiple plans, which also means more chance of someone stuffing up what signage goes where (I am sure we have all seen that at some stage).
Also sometimes the speed, lane restrictions may not be simply for worker safety. Sometimes it may be for road user safety due to surface condition (flicking up stones, or slippery etc), alignment etc. Sometimes it may be for the good of the road, eg higher speed to early in the road surfaces life may mean the quality and hence lifespan of the road is effected. Sometimes it may be to keep the speed of heavy vehicles down to reduce their effect on the new surface (no good having a 40km/h speed limit for trucks and 60km/h for cars if the cars are just going to catch up to the trucks and get stuck at 40km/h anyway. Also means it is harder to enforce).

Not saying it's right or wrong, just sitting on the fence  , but there is probably more than meets the eye.

Sit back, think of the next trip away (or the destination that awaits if you are already enroute), and think it could be worse - there is some poor smuck stuck in a windowless office somewhere whose highlight of the day is finding someone worse off in the "daily rant thread" on MySwag  .

Peter H

PS, I hate these sort of road works too.

[Foo]

Come and sit with me in the truck for a day and you will appreciate you ride in the 4by/car even more.

I can lose 30 mins in 80Klm with the road works and if you travel on the the Surat Development rd you will wonder what they are developing there, other that how to make it even more uncomfortable.

Toowoomba range will take you between 1 and 2hrs to go up now, with the road works. 

Foo

[Brij]

Apologies Foo if I came across too light hearted. Your plight illustrates how an extra bit of time here and there can cause distinct difficulties for truck drivers.
A local example for me is when the Princes Freeway was closed for (I think) 9 months a few years ago ago at Morwell (Vic) with all traffic detoured through the old Princes Highway through town. The town had been bypassed nearly 20 years ago and as such a number of traffic "calming" measures (ie roundabouts, traffic lights 50km/h speed zones etc) had been added over the years. The normal 5 min trip around the bypass freeway was extended to 30 to 40 minutes via the town.
For the general traffic it meant leaving for work earlier, choosing an alternate route or other measure to eleviate the pain.
For the truck driver it potentially meant either taking a pay cut or running excess hours.
Example - drivers transporting pulp wood to the paper factory could (previously) fit maybe 3 return trips a day into their 12 hour (regulated) day. Add 1/2 hour to each 4 hour return trip and they can suddenly do only 2 trips a day without running illegal driving hours. Hence an enforced 33% pay cut.
How many people could manage that?
All from "just" an extra 1/2 hour trip time.

Always a number of different ways to look at an issue.

Peter H

[Tanglestoo]

My biggest issue is some of the lazy / ignorant / untrained traffic controllers don't put any sign that indicates the work area is finished and the posted speed limit now applies.

Maybe they think it is funny that everyone is doing 40 on the freeway for 20 miles after the works have finished.

[Foo]

Apologies Foo if I came across too light hearted. Your plight illustrates how an extra bit of time here and there can cause distinct difficulties for truck drivers.
A local example for me is when the Princes Freeway was closed for (I think) 9 months a few years ago ago at Morwell (Vic) with all traffic detoured through the old Princes Highway through town. The town had been bypassed nearly 20 years ago and as such a number of traffic "calming" measures (ie roundabouts, traffic lights 50km/h speed zones etc) had been added over the years. The normal 5 min trip around the bypass freeway was extended to 30 to 40 minutes via the town.
For the general traffic it meant leaving for work earlier, choosing an alternate route or other measure to eleviate the pain.
For the truck driver it potentially meant either taking a pay cut or running excess hours.
Example - drivers transporting pulp wood to the paper factory could (previously) fit maybe 3 return trips a day into their 12 hour (regulated) day. Add 1/2 hour to each 4 hour return trip and they can suddenly do only 2 trips a day without running illegal driving hours. Hence an enforced 33% pay cut.
How many people could manage that?
All from "just" an extra 1/2 hour trip time.

Always a number of different ways to look at an issue.

Peter H

Nah, all good, I probably didn't word it right mate.

The clowns that make up all the rules and regulations that we are expected to adhere to, never allow for of this crap, plus the ones wanting their stuff on time don't give a crap neither.

Foo

[Brij]

The clowns that make up all the rules and regulations that we are expected to adhere to, never allow for of this crap, plus the ones wanting their stuff on time don't give a crap neither.

I hear you 

Peter (the "mermaid") H

[xcvator]

I recently had this problem on the new Frankston bypass road where the speed limit/roadworks signage was in place for a distance of 3.5 klms with no apparent reason, so just for the hell of it I pulled up on the side of the road and rang the relevant people and asked why the 60 klm zone. The lady told me
"weed spraying is being carried out"
my reply "no there isn't there's nobody any where in sight"
her reply "yes there is""
My reply " don't call me a liar, put me through to the operations manager"
silence
her reply " I'll speak to the manager"
My reply "thank you"
5 minutes later
her reply " I'm sorry , but you must be mistaken,the manager has assured me the work is completed and the zone signs have been removed"
my reply, getting a bit heated " DON'T call me a liar, the zone is still in place, why hasn't it been removed"
her reply " sorry sir you must be mistaken"
my reply "FFS I'm sitting beside the signage, on the side of the road right now, here is my name, address, home phone number and mobile number call me back with your  reasons, etc."
That was about 6 weeks ago, I'm still  waiting for the call. In this case I would say the foreman and crew had finished for the day but didn't call the traffic control contractor to pick up the signage and they were having a sleep in their truck somewhere. Or the contractor was just having a sleep untill 4.30 which was probably the scheduled pick up time.

Now I have seen this from both sides having worked on "roadworks" sites and from driving through them, and there are without a doubt 2 major problems here.
1/ The general public are a pack of f***wits that seriously needs major education regarding ALL speed limits, whether their name is actually on the speed limit/roadworks sign or not.
2/ The traffic control contractors have to made to stop cutting corners and put the zone signs up 15 minutes before works start and remove them immediately work finishes for the day, not leave them out for weeks at a time.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it 

[HEM19X]

Heading up that way Bert, might re-consider my route.

Thanks for the info.