Fremantle traffic bridge detour 05 Oct 2024 - the Saturday shambles

My one hope with this series of videos is that someone important at Main Roads WA watches them and has an "oh heck" moment - action needs to be taken to sort out these shambolic detours before someone gets hurt.
The detour along Tideman Rd to Stirling Hwy (using the footpath on the southern side) is absolutely fine. Detours around work sites are a fact of life that we just have to deal with.
However, detours need to be safe for all users - and in order to be safe, they need to be well planned, well executed and crystal clear in terms of sending people along the correct route. They need well placed, easily seen, easily interpreted maps at key locations. They need adequate signage at all decision points. If necessary, traffic controllers should be positioned at high risk locations to ensure people use the detour properly. They need to be inspected at least once a day to ensure they are working as designed, and adjusted if they aren't.
These detours lack all these features.

[@mikey.1205]

Ridden the river loop literally hundreds of times, and I still couldn't figure out how to get through this maze. Glad you put this out.

[@baybugcanadabaybicycleuser915]

I'm going to create a couple of "60 second guides" for this - a quick wham-wham-wham look at where to go. It's the only way to make sense of it all.

[@ACDZ123]

Finally, episode 3 and i can feel the headache coming on 😅

[@baybugcanadabaybicycleuser915]

Yes, I have one this morning from just thinking about going back for yet another look.

[@ACDZ123]

@@baybugcanadabaybicycleuser915 ha ha you're keen 😄

[@baybugcanadabaybicycleuser915]

@@ACDZ123 I would have said "mental", but keen sounds better.

[@ironnigel3887]

I rode that a week or so ago. It was a pure cluster Fk that's for sure. Agree with you, main roads needs to review the traffic management in place there before an incident occurs.

[@baybugcanadabaybicycleuser915]

I was very tempted to use Gunny Highway's favourite expression when recording the video, but I don't think youtube would have liked that very much. My redraft of the script: - Are you new to traffic managment, Major? - Yes, sir. I came over from Supply. - Were you good at that? - Yes, sir! Then stick to it, because you're a cluster fuck as a detour planner.

[@ACDZ123]

The reddish shrubbery is the bottlebrush tree. Hay fever factories

[@baybugcanadabaybicycleuser915]

Are you a Shrubber?

[@ACDZ123]

Not a shrubber but live in Cannington near the river with lots of natives ..funny story, played indoor cricket in the 80s and 90s and one of the teams I played for was called the "scrubbers" ha ha you triggered a memory there 🤣

[@Ladadadada]

It looks like there would be plenty of room to make that coned-off lane into the detour. It would be obvious and intuitive for everyone concerned so compliance would be high. Apart from the parked ute and the signs I can't see anything in the lane that would prevent it. Of course, they might be planning to dig it up and resurface it which would make it unsuitable, but at least from this video I can't see why they would send people over to the other bridge.

[@baybugcanadabaybicycleuser915]

I think they coned off that section to create a work site entrance to the north eastern pad (where they have one of the four cranes). You can see that entrance if you are silly enough to ride over the bridge and have time to look for it (I only spotted it afterwards when reviewing the video at a more leisurely pace). It's designed to create a safe entry and exit from that work site. I don't think anyone bothered to think about what that would do for the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. I doubt they want the hassle of managing cyclists and pedestrians moving across that work site entrance. They've done that successfully at the Causeway bridge project, but they had more space to work with (and they built a new shared path to create a safe crossing route).

[@peterlindsay8235]

I can now see why Mainroads where reluctant to become participants in the App Snap Send Solve. I have lodged several cycle path issues in recent months with zero results. At least the department’s quality assurance team are delivering consistent results 😂😂😂

[@baybugcanadabaybicycleuser915]

That is hilarious