2 September 2013

Community looking to duplicate Barton Highway

| Barcham
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I imagine this cause will resonate with more than a few of you, so I shall pass on the information:

After yet another fatality on the Barton Highway last Friday, I have set up a Facebook Group to mobilise the community to promote action on work to duplicate the road.

As an individual it’s hard to be heard, and easy to be apathetic. My hope is that as a community we can consolidate sentiment and gain a voice and influence progress on this project.

Can you ask fellow Rioters who are interested in the Barton Highway issue to join our Facebook Group.

The link to the Group is here https://www.facebook.com/groups/424962847624670/

As I write this the group is 583 members strong. If this is something you care about, go increase that number.

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marcothepolopony3:45 pm 03 Sep 13

Weatherman said :

Wouldn’t sealing and improving the road to Tumut, or building a south western road link out to Albury would ease traffic going to Yass. It would save hours, as well as shave hundreds of kilometres off the trip to Melbourne, the often intended route along the national highway in that direction.

The shortest or quickest route to Melbourne is through all the way north out past Yass. Barton Highway is overused, so you get the bad tailgater trying to rush those in front, poor overtaking decisions and speeding from trying to get home to overcome tiredness, which leads to accidents, because it would seem so inefficient to go so far north to then go south again.

A brilliant idea! The citizens of Yass and Murrumbateman and north would be the only users of this horror higway.

m00nee said :

You could learn how to obey the road rules, or
you could learn how to drive to the conditions, or
you could learn how to have some patience, or
you could learn that getting home 5 minutes later won’t kill you, or
you could whinge and whine to try and get billions of dollars poured into a perfectly acceptable piece of road that does not have the volume of traffic to warrant the horrendous expense of being duplicated.

Find a way to make this happen and you’ll save the government billions. Because it doesn’t matter how much enforcement of the rules you try, there will always be one jerk that takes the life of someone else who was following the rules. However if you can reduce the chances of that happening via design, then to me i’d rather have the money spent, because ultimately its also less people in hospitals as well.

Also I find the idea of wasting my time to cover for the fact someone else in incapable of driving to the conditions and resorts to driving slowly an insult. I generally get to most places about 5 minutes earlier than I need to be, but sometimes there are people who for whatever reason feel that they either should drive extra slow because they are scared, or play traffic cop and deliberately stop vehicles from overtaking.

I used to drive the Barton many, many times in the past.

It’s not the average driver cruising along at 100 kph and observing the speed limit that is the problem.

It’s suicidal f*cknuckles that come barrelling along at 140 clicks trying to overtake anything in their way.

Time to duplicate the road.

And while we’re at it, do the King’s Highway as well.

You might get the Barton done, but I can’t imagine the King’s getting done anytime soon, however much it needs it.

As for who’s responsible for carnage, I’d say they come in all shapes, sizes, and speeds. While I agree that suicidal fkwits travelling at 140 clicks need to be stomped on, there is a slight chance that they are engaged with their immediate environment. It’s the drivers who are texting, or with the passenger pointing out the pretty scenery away from the road, or falling asleep, that I worry about.

davo101 said :

By the same logic we don’t need: speed limits, line markings, speed advisory signs on curves, guide posts, or guard rails.

Think of the money we could save if we didn’t bother with asphalt or concrete !

m00nee said :

You could learn how to obey the road rules, or
you could learn how to drive to the conditions, or
you could learn how to have some patience, or
you could learn that getting home 5 minutes later won’t kill you, or
you could whinge and whine to try and get billions of dollars poured into a perfectly acceptable piece of road that does not have the volume of traffic to warrant the horrendous expense of being duplicated.

I’m glad you’re not a road engineer. That’s pretty much an argument you can use against any form of road safety improvement. By the same logic we don’t need: speed limits, line markings, speed advisory signs on curves, guide posts, or guard rails.

Deref said :

caf said :

Deref said :

Not a bad idea – I’ll join. Mind you, the Barton’s perfectly safe, if frustratingly slow sometimes, if you drive to the conditions.

How do you force the goose coming the other way to drive to the conditions?

You can’t. That’s the problem.

Deref said :

Not a bad idea – I’ll join. Mind you, the Barton’s perfectly safe, if frustratingly slow sometimes, if you drive to the conditions.

Right. Nevertheless, the volume of traffic it carries warrants its duplication and perhaps the bypass of Murrumbateman.

If engineering can resolve a safety issue, it should be explored.

I fixed that for you.

A sad little man who has to change peoples words to believe that he is right.

m00nee said :

…I rarely use it nowadays but every time I do, I’m caught up doing 80 on average for pretty much the entire stretch to the Yass turnoff….Perhaps the person who …is causing a traffic convoy of a dozen vehicles behind them whilst they dawdle along at 70km/h in a 100 zone. Then when they get to an overtaking lane they magically realize [sic] they can do 100km/h, thus preventing anyone from overtaking, then they slow down again to a ridiculously slow pace, further irritating the person behind…

That’s what they call a “Barton Highway Special” – you get that type of driver anywhere, but they seem to be particularly prevalent on the Barton Highway for some reason.

m00nee said :

…who is already late for work.

And, whose fault is it that you couldn’t get yourself out of bed in time?

It’s amazing how many of the rebuttals to what I said fall within the scope of what I said. “but what about this person, and what about the other guy etc.” If they also followed the road rules, drove to the conditions and has some patience the instances of accidents causing injury would be reduced.

Why is it that the only reference given here, the RTA’s Barton Highway safety review does not use the word duplicate in it, at all. I agree with the recommendations of the report, but if someone can supply any information that proves the claim that the volume of traffic supports duplicating this road i’m happy to read it. But claiming the volume exists because your trip home takes you 7.5 minutes more of an evening doesn’t prove anything.

I will note that the main causes of accidents in the report (and I do agree the information supplied is subjective) are:

Speed – 42% (Obey road rules)
Wet road – 40% (Drive to the conditions)
Fatigue – 26% – (Patience)

wildturkeycanoe, as an ex-resident of Merryville I feel that I am confident to be able to comment on this issue.

caf said :

Deref said :

Not a bad idea – I’ll join. Mind you, the Barton’s perfectly safe, if frustratingly slow sometimes, if you drive to the conditions.

How do you force the goose coming the other way to drive to the conditions?

You can’t. That’s the problem.

Deref said :

Not a bad idea – I’ll join. Mind you, the Barton’s perfectly safe, if frustratingly slow sometimes, if you drive to the conditions.

Right. Nevertheless, the volume of traffic it carries warrants its duplication and perhaps the bypass of Murrumbateman.

If engineering can resolve a safety issue, it should be explored.

I fixed that for you.

m00nee said :

You could learn how to obey the road rules, or
you could learn how to drive to the conditions, or
you could learn how to have some patience, or
you could learn that getting home 5 minutes later won’t kill you, or
you could whinge and whine to try and get billions of dollars poured into a perfectly acceptable piece of road that does not have the volume of traffic to warrant the horrendous expense of being duplicated.

it does have the volume of traffic to warrant being duplicated.

the lack of duplication is the major cause of the accidents that do occur on the road.

on the two recent occasions I have travelled on the road, I have behind a vehicle who’s speed varied anywhere from 90kmh to 110kmh due to driver inattention.

on the same journeys, there were very long lines of cars going in the opposite direction and if any one of them couldn’t keep a constant speed, then imagine the frustration felt by the cars behind them.

the road surface and layout may be ok, but as one of two major roads in and out of the nation’s capital, the road is a disgrace.

m00nee said :

You could learn how to obey the road rules, or
you could learn how to drive to the conditions, or
you could learn how to have some patience, or
you could learn that getting home 5 minutes later won’t kill you, or
you could whinge and whine to try and get billions of dollars poured into a perfectly acceptable piece of road that does not have the volume of traffic to warrant the horrendous expense of being duplicated.

all great and dandy except for the person ambling along, within the speed limit, obeying all road laws, and the person on the other side traveling in the other direction pops out impatiently to overtake and a head on collision occurs.

there is no perfect world, but when engineering can resolve safety issues, it needs to be explored.

goody658 said :

I joined, I have seen some very dodgy overtaking done on that road.

I have multiple memories of the line markings saying ok to overtake, but me saying NO WAY.
They’ve fixed many of those spots.

Wouldn’t sealing and improving the road to Tumut, or building a south western road link out to Albury would ease traffic going to Yass. It would save hours, as well as shave hundreds of kilometres off the trip to Melbourne, the often intended route along the national highway in that direction.

The shortest or quickest route to Melbourne is through all the way north out past Yass. Barton Highway is overused, so you get the bad tailgater trying to rush those in front, poor overtaking decisions and speeding from trying to get home to overcome tiredness, which leads to accidents, because it would seem so inefficient to go so far north to then go south again.

troll-sniffer9:52 pm 02 Sep 13

m00nee said :

You could learn how to obey the road rules, or
you could learn how to drive to the conditions, or
you could learn how to have some patience, or
you could learn that getting home 5 minutes later won’t kill you, or
you could whinge and whine to try and get billions of dollars poured into a perfectly acceptable piece of road that does not have the volume of traffic to warrant the horrendous expense of being duplicated.

+eleventy billion

Another road that used to be adequate, and now it’s not due to the volumes of traffic on it. Why the increase in volumes? More people.

They keep telling us population growth is great, but here’s yet another example that it’s not. It causes problems which require money to fix them.. a bigger and better road. Yet we had an adequate road, now it’s us who have to find the money to build the better road. Who is benefiting from population growth again?

Holden Caulfield9:11 pm 02 Sep 13

m00nee said :

You could learn how to obey the road rules, or
you could learn how to drive to the conditions, or
you could learn how to have some patience, or
you could learn that getting home 5 minutes later won’t kill you, or
you could whinge and whine to try and get billions of dollars poured into a perfectly acceptable piece of road that does not have the volume of traffic to warrant the horrendous expense of being duplicated.

I tend to support this approach, with the one caveat that the same theories could apply to almost any route. At which point does the Barton become worth duplicating in your eyes?

In the early 90s I used to drive the Barton to and from Canberra pretty much every day and it was no real drama IMO. But I suspect it’s carrying a lot more traffic now of course which may test the patience of some motorists.

While I’m older and more mature now, I used to enjoy late night or early morning runs back in the day!

wildturkeycanoe8:23 pm 02 Sep 13

m00nee said :

You could learn how to obey the road rules, or
you could learn how to drive to the conditions, or
you could learn how to have some patience, or
you could learn that getting home 5 minutes later won’t kill you, or
you could whinge and whine to try and get billions of dollars poured into a perfectly acceptable piece of road that does not have the volume of traffic to warrant the horrendous expense of being duplicated.

Obviously not a regular commuter on the Barton. I rarely use it nowadays but every time I do, I’m caught up doing 80 on average for pretty much the entire stretch to the Yass turnoff.
As mentioned already, how do you also avoid the crazy behind you who hasn’t considered the first five options mentioned, or the one coming the opposite way in your lane? Perhaps the person who has an extra 5 minutes up their sleeve is causing a traffic convoy of a dozen vehicles behind them whilst they dawdle along at 70km/h in a 100 zone. Then when they get to an overtaking lane they magically realize they can do 100km/h, thus preventing anyone from overtaking, then they slow down again to a ridiculously slow pace, further irritating the person behind who is already late for work. There is driving to the conditions, and then there is driving like an inexperienced noob with no idea of the chaos their overcautious approach has on the normal flow of traffic. Just as it is safer to keep cyclists off our roads, it is safer to keep oncoming vehicles from getting onto the wrong side. How many head-ons do we see on the Hume dual carriageway today? Just look at the stats here – http://www.minister.infrastructure.gov.au/aa/releases/2013/June/aa114_2013.pdf and you will see it has reduced the numbers dramatically. If horrendous expense can save lives, even the ones from this year alone, I don’t see it as a waste at all. Better that than horrendous results of accidents.

You could learn how to obey the road rules, or
you could learn how to drive to the conditions, or
you could learn how to have some patience, or
you could learn that getting home 5 minutes later won’t kill you, or
you could whinge and whine to try and get billions of dollars poured into a perfectly acceptable piece of road that does not have the volume of traffic to warrant the horrendous expense of being duplicated.

Deref said :

Not a bad idea – I’ll join. Mind you, the Barton’s perfectly safe, if frustratingly slow sometimes, if you drive to the conditions.

Wrong. The volume of traffic it carries warrants its duplication and perhaps the bypass of Murrumbateman.

If engineering can resolve a safety issue, it should be explored.

Deref said :

Not a bad idea – I’ll join. Mind you, the Barton’s perfectly safe, if frustratingly slow sometimes, if you drive to the conditions.

How do you force the goose coming the other way to drive to the conditions?

I joined, I have seen some very dodgy overtaking done on that road.

Not a bad idea – I’ll join. Mind you, the Barton’s perfectly safe, if frustratingly slow sometimes, if you drive to the conditions.

There was a Barton Highway Safety Review conducted by the NSW RTA five years ago.

It’s also worth noting that a preferred route has already been identified – it’s just waiting for the various governments involved to stump up the cash and hit the go button.

Can anyone point to reports (corenors or otherwise) on the causes of each of these accidents resulting in death?

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