New warning light on Bird’s Hill needs tweaking
Cycling safety campaigner Victoria Davis at the Bird’s Hill site. Photo: Neil Wilson.
Cyclists on Bird’s Hill are quite a bit safer these days, thanks to $30,000 illuminated signs alerting drivers to their presence.
Approaching the hill from either side, cyclists simply pull in to the side of the road and push a button that can be worked from a moving bike. The button activates the sign that displays the image of a bike. The sign stays illuminated for 1 minute and 55 seconds. Following drivers can then be on the lookout for cyclists, making the road safer.
However, not all cyclists are finding the allotted 1minute 55 seconds long enough to negotiate the whole hill.
Victoria Davis has been campaigning for about 10 years to make Golden Bay’s roads safer for cyclists. She says that she is delighted to see the new sign but she is still disappointed with aspects of the process.
“The authorities are required to consult with the stakeholders and that hasn’t happened,” said Ms Davis. “If proper consultation had taken place before the project, we could have made sure that the sign was calibrated to allow enough time for all cyclists to get off the hill. I would have liked to have seen a multi-use sign too, with buttons and lights to indicate walkers and people on horseback.”
In 2008 Ms Davis threatened to call for the resignation of the regional manager of what was then called Transit New Zealand (now the New Zealand Transport Agency). This arose out of the widening of the road near the Rangihaeata turnoff. The road was widened but there was no provision made for cyclists because the authorities said that traffic volumes did not justify it.
Ms Davis described the stretch of road between Takaka and Rangihaeata as “terrifying for walkers, horse riders and cyclists.
“It’s the only way out of town in this direction, so it’s not as though people who live out here have a choice,” she said. “NZTA looked at reusing the old road over Bird’s Hill in some way, but it wasn’t practicable, so the signs are the next best thing.”
Martin Langley uses that stretch of road almost every day, both as a cyclist and as a motorist. He is impressed with the idea of the signs but had two suggestions to make them more effective.
“I’d like the signs to stay illuminated for four or five minutes once they’ve been activated,” he said, “and, as a motorist, I’d like the signs to light up on both sides when a cyclist pushes the button at either end. That way I’d know if I’m likely to meet a cyclist—or some crazy bugger trying to overtake a cyclist—coming the other way.”
Neil Wilson
