Euan, Blackburn Rd is still bad

ghostgum said:

Euan,

I spoke with you at the Goat a couple of weeks ago and mentioned
the horrible traffic on Blackburn Rd. You claimed to have no problems
if you "took the lane".

That's right.

Quoted post said:

So I tried that and almost ended up under
a semi trailer wheel. The semi sat behind me until the middle lane
was clear, then pulled out, partially overtook me then moved back
into my lane. If I hadn't braked to drop behind him (while climbing
a hill) I would have ended up under his rear wheel.

The point is that you had plenty of time to react. The same happens to me on occaision but I wouldn't class it as ``nearly going under the wheel.'' I know what may happen and watch for it, if I have to break because the driver's cut in too early then big deal, I get to expend some more calories and justify (in my mind) that extra muffin :-)

I question whether you were actually in any danger. Sure the lorry driver was inconsiderate but were you ever in any real danger, or merely inconvenienced by selfish driving? This is the whole point of taking the lane, it forces other motorists to treat you like a vehicle. Don't tell me lorries don't cut up cars, they do. And guess what cars do when they're cut up? They brake, just like you did.

Quoted post said:

I still dislike Blackburn Rd.

Hey, I never said I liked it, just that I can use it just as safely as a car can.

Quoted message said:

The point is that you had plenty of time to react. The same happens to
me on occaision but I wouldn't class it as ``nearly going under the
wheel.'' I know what may happen and watch for it, ...
I question whether you were actually in any danger.

I would have been if I'd been pig-headed and kept riding.
However the alternatives were pretty clear.
20000kg vs 75kg is no contest.

At least I didn't get the same treatment as my colleague
who was probably riding too close to the edge and got a
bruise on his bum from a car mirror.

ghostgum said:

Euan,

I spoke with you at the Goat a couple of weeks ago and mentioned
the horrible traffic on Blackburn Rd. You claimed to have no problems
if you "took the lane". So I tried that and almost ended up under
a semi trailer wheel. The semi sat behind me until the middle lane
was clear, then pulled out, partially overtook me then moved back
into my lane. If I hadn't braked to drop behind him (while climbing
a hill) I would have ended up under his rear wheel.

I still dislike Blackburn Rd.

Greetings,
Blackburn Rd is actually a horror, particularly between Waverley Rd
and Highbury Rd. But it is identical in width and construction to a lot
of other grid roads in the eastern suburbs, it's just the pure volume of
traffic on that section combined with too narrow lanes that makes it so
bad. The fact is our road network is not and never was designed with
cyclist safety in mind. With a cycling budget of around $2 million a
year (EastLink costs $3.3 billion) I don't see this changing in a hurry.
Regards,
Ray.

Ray Peace said:

Blackburn Rd is actually a horror, particularly between Waverley Rd
and Highbury Rd. But it is identical in width and construction to a lot
of other grid roads in the eastern suburbs, it's just the pure volume of
traffic on that section combined with too narrow lanes that makes it so
bad.

agree

you wouldn't get me on that road (or Springvale, or Warrigal, or Stevensons, etc) unless it was 3 o'clock in the morning

531Aussie said:

agree

you wouldn't get me on that road (or Springvale, or Warrigal, or Stevensons, etc) unless it was 3 o'clock in the morning

I'd be *more* concerned at that time of day; no congestion to slow down the traffic and increased likelihood that drivers are fatigued / drunk / stoned etc.

Springvale and Blackburn are the two most direct routes from Dingley Village to Tally Ho. Seeing as one place is where i work and the other is where I live it kind of narrows the options a bit.

EuanB said:

Springvale and Blackburn are the two most direct routes from Dingley Village to Tally Ho. Seeing as one place is where i work and the other is where I live it kind of narrows the options a bit.

yeah, that's a bummer. I dunno what I'd do. I'd probably chicken out

ghostgum said:

Euan,
I spoke with you at the Goat a couple of weeks ago and mentioned
the horrible traffic on Blackburn Rd.

Blackburn Road issues aside, there's another Goat this week. Come one, come in, goatage! 😄

EuanB said:

Springvale and Blackburn are the two most direct routes from Dingley
Village to Tally Ho. Seeing as one place is where i work and the other
is where I live it kind of narrows the options a bit.

Yup. For my money, I'd be more comfortable on Blackburn than on
Springvale. Although once you're past the freeway, there may be back
streets you can wander through (the railway is another choke point,
though ... and I don't know what it's like between the railway and
Highbury Road ... ok, forget I said anything. 😄)

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Some of Springvale Rd. has service lanes, plus, having heaps of businesses along there, using the footpath ain't as [censored] as doing so past homes

531Aussie said:

Some of Springvale Rd. has service lanes

Some, yes, but not enough for me to feel comfortable using it. In
particular, the stretch between the freeway and Ferntree Gully Road,
and between Waverley Road and Burwood Highway. The latter is a major one
for me personally, given that I'm going from Mitcham to Monash Uni.

Quoted message said:

plus, having heaps of
businesses along there, using the footpath ain't as [censored] as doing so
past homes

I'll give you that, but I don't believe that using the footpath is a
reasonable option in any case. Plus, the stretch that we're talking
about -- between Tally Ho and Dingley -- does include a substantial
amount of residential property. I do not believe that the footpath is an
answer to problems with traffic on a given road. Yes, I've hopped onto
the footpath on Springvale Road myself, but that was a once off; I
modified my route to avoid SR completely.

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"531Aussie" <[email hidden]> wrote in
message news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Some of Springvale Rd. has service lanes,

Do you live out this way? Hardly any of Springvale Road has service lanes
that would be of use to someone commuting from, say Brandon Park to
Nunawading. Barely 2 kms of service road in that whole stretch, and I
wouldn't bother with using any of them.

Quoted message said:

plus, having heaps of
businesses along there, using the footpath ain't as [censored] as doing so
past homes

You really need to follow our road rules, unless you're aged less than 12.

Cheers
Peter

EuanB said:

Springvale and Blackburn are the two most direct routes from Dingley Village to Tally Ho. Seeing as one place is where i work and the other is where I live it kind of narrows the options a bit.

being an ex-local, I would use Lawrence Rd. which is parallel to Blackburn Road and ALMOST runs from Waverley through to Highbury. It is straight and is extra wide.

It can be accessed at south end by Scammel across shared path. You can use Pinewood Drive to completely avoid Blackburn/Waverley intersection.

At the other end you can take a series of streets to pop out near Tally Ho shops, or, my favourite, use Sesame Street, leaving you with only 500m of Blackburn Rd to battle.

I always wanted to buy a house on Sesame Street. Figured it must be worth more than any others in the neighbourhood.

Ray Peace said:

The fact is our road network is not and never was designed with
cyclist safety in mind.

So what, it wasn't designed with anyones safety in mind. Therefore, noone should use it?

sinus wrote

Quoted post said:

I would use Lawrence Rd. which is parallel to Blackburn Road and ALMOST runs from Waverley through to Highbury. It is straight and is extra wide.

I use Lawrence Rd to Scotchmans creek every morning at about 7.15am, it's b[font='Times New Roman'][font=Verdana]eautiful unlike Blackburn road at that time. I turn into Blackburn Rd from Highbury Rd and travel a short distance before turning down a side street into Lawrence. I seem to be on the footpath at least half the time because the traffic can get so bad their and thats the same on the return journey as well.[/font][/font]
[font='Times New Roman'][font=Verdana][/font][/font]
[font='Times New Roman'][font=Verdana]Lawrence Rd has an extra wide bike lane that seems to get a lot of use from people parking their cars on the street but traffic is never an issue. [/font][/font]

sinus said:

being an ex-local, I would use Lawrence Rd. which is parallel to Blackburn Road and ALMOST runs from Waverley through to Highbury. It is straight and is extra wide.

Thanks, I'll try that. Just because I can use Blackburn Road doesn't mean I like using it :-)

sinus said:

EuanB said:

Springvale and Blackburn are the two most direct routes from Dingley
Village to Tally Ho. Seeing as one place is where i work and the other
is where I live it kind of narrows the options a bit.

being an ex-local, I would use Lawrence Rd. which is parallel to
Blackburn Road and ALMOST runs from Waverley through to Highbury. It is
straight and is extra wide.

Excellent point -- I'd forgotten about Lawrence Road. My excuse is that
I used to live around the south-eastern side of the Blackburn/Waverley
Road intersection, and rarely needed to travel in that direction.

Quoted message said:

It can be accessed at south end by Scammel across shared path. You can
use Pinewood Drive to completely avoid Blackburn/Waverley intersection.

Bugger me, he's completely correct. I had no idea of that particular
gem (I knew about LR, but didn't know about Scammel.) The only problem
may be that the traffic along Waverley Road can be intense; if that's
the case, head west along W.R., and you'll come to the point where
there's a division, as the bike path crosses the road. Just before Regent
Street. The bike path along there meets up with Lawrence Road, and it's
reasonably clear which way to go.

Nice catch.

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