Courier driver attacks Claudelands bridge upgrade
A cycle-friendly makeover to an innercity bridge could increase risks for cyclists, a Hamilton courier driver believes.
Jason Young says the radical changes to Claudelands Bridge are going to make it ‘‘100 times worse’’ but city planners disagree, saying pedestrian and cyclist safety will improve significantly.
Hamilton City Council is three weeks into the six-week project that will see concrete cycling separators leading on and off the bridge.
They will also put share arrow (sharrow) markings to show where bikes should go in the middle of the lane.
Young’s big concern is the low concrete wall of the installed cycle lane.
‘‘I believe the cyclist is going to clip that and tip straight into the traffic and with the walls, there is nowhere for anyone to swerve.
‘‘It’s the worst thing I have ever seen. I am a professional driver for 32 years and I think it’s going to cause chaos.’’
Furthermore, Young believes the new speed limit of 30kmh isn’t going to make much difference.
‘‘If I am doing one kilometre and a cyclist tips over in front of my vehicle they will be squashed’’.
With his occupation, Young drives over the bridge a number of times a day.
‘‘There is a pedestrian lane either side of the bridge so why don’t they make one for the cyclists and the pedestrians on the other side which would be way simpler and safer than narrowing the road down and having concrete blocks leading into it and all the way along until the cyclists can merge out,’’ Young said.
City transportation unit manager Jason Harrison welcomed Young’s feedback but said he is confident they did a lot of research into what would work to improve Claudelands Bridge for cyclists and pedestrians.
‘‘There is a lot more work to be done in terms of road markings, different colouring on the road surface to clearly identify the separated cycle lanes from the traffic lanes.
‘‘The reason they’re designed to that height is that they’re a similar design to the curb height or what you would expect to see with a traffic island. We’re trying to create an asset that clearly shows separation between a traffic lane and a cycle lane,’’ Harrison said.
The work is on track to be completed at the beginning of October.