Tuesday 16 March 2010

Efforts to improve road safety

Clutha District Council will be making a concerted effort to improve the safety of its roading network over the coming months.

Council staff have made a number of recommendations to Council’s District Assets Committee to help prevent damage to roads and/or to help prevent roads from becoming dangerous for motorists.

Council Manager District Assets Jules Witt said the main areas of concern were baleage and other unauthorised structures such as fences on road reserve, mud on roads, trees overhanging and/or shading the road, and damage to footpaths.

Mr Witt said that from a staff perspective, a pragmatic approach was required to deal with the issues.

“We live in a rural area and farming activities are an integral part of our district. However, there have been an increasing number of issues of late, particularly on rural roads,” he said. “People’s safety always has to be the first priority.”

Mr Witt said baleage stored on road reserve had become an increasing problem in recent times. In many cases it caused muck and damage to the roads and could also create a safety hazard with vehicles working and reversing on the road.

Mr Witt said another dangerous yet alarmingly common issue was trees on private property which overhang and/or shade the road.

“Not only do trees with low and/or overhanging branches present a direct physical threat to passing motorists or pedestrians, but those trees which shade the road surface for extended periods of time in winter can reduce the structural strength of the road, creating an icy surface and making driving treacherous.”

A three-stage enforcement process is being proposed.

Firstly, a verbal approach would be made where Council staff would discuss the issue with the land owner/operator and provide pamphlets explaining Council’s position.

If the issue isn’t then resolved in a timely manner, a written warning would be sent (although this step would be skipped for significant road safety hazards).

As a last resort, Council would arrange to have work undertaken to fix any damage and/or remove the hazard with the costs to be recovered from the land owner/operator. 

The recommendations will be discussed at the District Assets Committee meeting on Thursday 18 March.

ENDS

Example of both baleage on road reserve and mud on road