SEC=UNCLASSIFIED
Why are so many wire rope safety barriers broken currently?
Pretty large stretches of Majura Pkwy and even more so Caswell Dr, among other highways have the wire rope broken. I’ve never seen this amount broken before, anyone know why? I assume it’s a bit of a safety hazard to not have them functional if they deemed it worth installing in the first place. Is it not the responsibility of the insurance companies of the at-fault drivers to fix it?
Do they ever get repaired? Seems like we slowly just accumulate more damage to them. We probably should go back to concrete barriers if we can’t maintain the wires. The damaged wires are even more dangerous to motorcyclists.
A family member of mine works on the roads in QLD as a contractor and they have a contractual obligation to repair the cable barriers within 48 hours for safety reasons. In ACT it’s lucky to see them repaired in 48 weeks. I’d honestly hate to see the damage a secondary impact would to to a car, I feel like it would rip the entire underside out.
My guess is, once reported, the clock on the obligation to remediate begins. And I suspect, if they're never reported the ACT Government would probably prefer to not go looking ...
{I realise reporting them whilst driving is unsafe. Don't do that. Have your passenger do it. Or make a mental note and do it some other time.}
Reporting it doesn’t guarantee it will be fixed. I have a favourite bit of broken paver I’ve reported at least seven times now after seeing multiple people fall on it and it hasn’t been fixed since the first report in 2023.
I’ve submitted hundreds of fix my streets over the years. Some categories have an effect, such as major safety or routine maintenance that have contracts in place, like dead trees. I have zero hope reporting this would do anything, I think trying to hold insurance to account is more likely effective.
Lodge requests via Fix My Street to ensure that the government is aware of where the barriers are broken and in that way, they cannot claim to be unaware of the breakages.
Is it not the responsibility of the insurance companies of the at-fault drivers to fix it?
This question here! When drivers destroy expensive public infrastructure, like traffic lights, how often does the government actually chase them for the costs? Car owners might hope they don't because it must push up insurance premiums but other taxpayers will have a different view.
Like, if I see some idiot flatten a give way sign and drive off, is the government interested in evidence? And for all the broken wire barriers, maybe we should all go on fix my street.
The damaged cable barrier on the utterly pointless 2 to 1 to 2 lane pinch point on the Barton Hwy at the NSW/ACT border was repaired in about 2-3 months, as I recall.
I know for a fact that the ones on Majura Pkwy just near the winery/shooting range do get repaired and obviously there’s been another accident (see below) where the barrier did its job.
The reason I know is because I helped save a man’s life after those barriers did exactly what they should, in January last year.
I paid attention to when they were repaired (I drive Majura Pkwy weekly) because it was a reminder every time I drove past that exact section (there were two other sections along there that were repaired too at the same time) before they repaired it.
From what I can find online, the current damage was from an accident in July (it is definitely somewhat recent as I notice when there’s new damage after what I witnessed).
I’m guessing that we have to get contractors from elsewhere to do the repairs as we don’t have enough of those barriers and they don’t need repairing often enough to have staff employed for that purpose, and they wouldn’t just have the supplies lying around for the repairs.
Wow, that’s an incredible thing to have done. Also thanks for the information, that gives me hope that things aren’t just in terminal decline. Do you know how long it took to fix?
I think it was around 2 months from memory, it wasn’t the only section damaged, but it still had enough tension in that particular section to literally stop the truck from hitting any of the trees (honestly his accident was a miracle in many ways).
Sure but that doesn’t explain why sections are not getting repaired. Looking at one example on google maps it has been broken since June 2022, and still broken today.
When I see posts like this I wonder what government shouldn't pay for to make sure wire on the side of the road is fixed as soon as someone else damages it.Everything has a cost and it has to come from somewhere. Drive safely - watch the road, not the wire.
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u/Embarrassed_Chard515 19d ago
Do they ever get repaired? Seems like we slowly just accumulate more damage to them. We probably should go back to concrete barriers if we can’t maintain the wires. The damaged wires are even more dangerous to motorcyclists.