The terror of the turn
Some mornings it can be terrifying trying to get across the road with the steady stream of truck and car traffic between the hours of 05.45 and 9 am.
That's what one resident said when talking about her usual daily commute to Wellington from Waikawa Beach. She went on to say: [I'm] taking my life into my hands turning south onto SH1 from Waikawa Beach Road.
In the last few years traffic has built up tremendously along State Highway 1 between Ōtaki and Levin. In the interests of safety NZTA made changes: now it's 80 Kph through Manakau, rather than the previous 100 Kph, and islands at each end help to slow traffic.
But at the same time road markings that Waikawa Beach residents and regulars really liked were removed. There is still a right-turn bay for those travelling from the north who want to turn into Waikawa Beach Road.
But for all others, turning into and out of Waikawa Beach Road was made more difficult and has been an ongoing source of frustration and annoyance.
A flush-median and flexible posts have been installed along the middle of the road through that 80 Kph zone, and the turning lane for those heading south was removed. It seems many people don't know you can turn onto the flush median while waiting to merge into the southbound lane.
Those who do know have difficulty with it for a couple of reasons: some worry how oncoming southbound drivers will react, while others complain that the flexible posts prevent them from getting up to speed while merging into southbound traffic.
To turn left into Waikawa Beach Road from the south requires moving onto the shoulder of the road while slowing and hoping following cars also slow sufficiently, given the median posts don't allow room for them to move aside.
Even those turning north out of Waikawa Beach Road have been dinged by the changes: where previously there was room to go round the corner and wait for a gap in traffic, reshaped kerbing makes that impossible. And if two vehicles wait side-by-side at the Waikawa Beach Road Stop sign, no-one can see what traffic is heading their way. For those turning towards the south a concrete pole right on the corner impedes clear vision too.
These gripes aren't new, but they are often repeated. Unfortunately, it seems no-one is listening.
Published in Ōtaki Today, June 2020, Page 19.
I thoroughly enjoyed the feel-good Netflix movie Feel the Beat 📺:
a 2020 American family dance comedy-drama film
Fairly standard plot, but lots of heart. Good to see the film include a deaf character.
First time in an extremely long time that Ive watched ISS go overhead. Experimented with night mode: iPhone 11, with 10 second exposure. The ISS is the bright blob near centre, just about to pass the ‘sting’ in the tail of Scorpius. (Remember, its upside down from N. Hemisphere.)
Hmmm, apparently my Move It Mondays are inevitably followed by Too-Tired Tuesdays! 🥱
A day when the breeze, if any, is easterly so while the sea isn’t quite glass, it’s just really gentle. Large in the background Kāpiti Island. About 100 km away you can see the tippy top of the South Island, Te Wai Pounamu.
Well the WWDC20 keynote was cool. I’ll be ready for a new Mac laptop in a year or two so that’ll fit nicely with machines that use the new chip.
🤣 “Historic Day”, ‘undisclosed location’ … that looks like an underground bunker beneath the pool.
Glad to see in the 2020 WWDC Apple have made much more effort to have women presenters.
I recently decided on Move It Mondays to start my week off right. Today was so gorgeous I took the kayak to the river and paddled for an hour. Im getting better: less water in the kayak, went a bit further. Utterly peaceful.
This Micro Monday I suggest @danielpunkass, creator of MarsEdit and Black Ink, podcaster with @manton at Core Intuition and all-round thoughtful person.
Was that Venus looking in while I did my morning stretches? Starwalk said Yes. And it turns out Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto were all together in the west. First day after Solstice and we move towards summer now. A couple of seconds more light in the day…
We have new neighbours. Neighhh. 🐴 👏
Emily Graslie is one of my favourite YouTube video presenters. Now shes part of the Prehistoric road trip which turns out to be not just video, but a whole experience. I havent yet watched, but plan to dig in soon.
Down in the dunes this morning, this wonderful fungus.
Rain glorious rain! It rained for more than 24 hours. Yesterday alone brought nearly 40 mm. The water tank is overflowing and the garden sure needed it. It was also enjoyable spending a day in by the fire, though there was a break where I took the dogs out.
Sleepy as last nights good shake left me awake for more than an hour. At 7.5 magnitude and only 33 Km deep its a good thing the quake originated about 1,000 Km away from me. 〰️
I did not know this:
The combined gravitational pull of the Sun, Saturn, Jupiter and other planets cause the shape of the Earth’s orbit to vary from its most elliptical to almost circular on a 110,000 year time scale.
Via Come Rain Or Shine.
And on motorcycling: two keen motorcycling women friends (each has 2 or 3 large bikes) married back in February 2014. They rode their bikes to the ceremony… But look at the amazing cake another friend made for them!
A conversation with @Strandlines about gendered protective gear reminded me of a Letter to the Editor I wrote in 1972, when I was 17 and rode a motorbike. (BTW: I've never cared an iota about fashion in my entire life.) Headline: Wanted: sensible rig for girl motor-cyclists.
