The rumble strips on SE Wacahoota Road should be gone very soon! Thanks to Steve Lachnicht for working the problem.

The strips on SR 26 are on a State road, and are built to an established specification. It will take a lot of creativity to fix the road in that location (it may take widening the bridge). In the meantime, be aware that attempting to ride through the rumbles may be more hazardous than riding on the edge of the traffic lane.

-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Lachnicht [mailto:SLachnicht@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 10:29 AM
To: David Cerlanek
Cc: 'roger@xxxxxxxxxx'
Subject: Re: GCCMail: Road Hazards

David,
This is an excellent example of responding to a community concern. I'll ask Roger to relay this to the GCC membership (over 600 members).
Steve

Sent using my BlackBerry smartphone

From: David Cerlanek
To: Steve Lachnicht
Cc: Roger Pierce <roger@xxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wed Oct 07 09:47:33 2009
Subject: RE: GCCMail: Road Hazards

Hello Steve,

Our crews inspected the rumble strips on Wacahoota Road for consistency with the FDOT specifications and found them to be outside acceptable tolerances. They are scheduled to completely remove the strips today. We had a discussion this morning regarding using thermoplastic instead of asphalt, and that is probably the way we will go. We use an annual contract to do this work, and it may take some period of time to schedule. I’ll keep you posted as we get a more firm date. I also made it clear to leave space between the edge of pavement and the strips to allow bicycles to pass through.

Thanks again for your help. Please let me know if you need anything else.

Dave

Wm. David Cerlanek, PE, PTOE, CPM

County Engineer

Alachua County Public Works Department

PO Box 1188

Gainesville, FL 32602

(352) 374-5245 ext. 214

dcerlanek@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

From: Steve Lachnicht
Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 8:42 AM
To: David Cerlanek
Cc: Roger Pierce
Subject: FW: GCCMail: Road Hazards

David,

This is an observation of the Gainesville Cycling Club. Can rumble strips be installed a little short of the edge of the road for bicycles to pass safely?

Steve

From: gccmail-manager@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:gccmail-manager@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Pierce
Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 8:32 AM
To: GCCMail@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: GCCMail: Road Hazards

There are a couple of built-in road hazards that you should know about:

On SE Wacahoota Road (aka Short Wacahoota), as you are Southbound intersecting US 441, new rumble strips have been installed which must be at least an inch tall, and very steep. These are the meanest rumble strips that I have ever laid eyes on; I would expect that you would have a good chance of crashing if you were to actually ride over them.

On SR 26 east of town, there is a “narrow” bridge over a creek (Hatchet Creek?). When the roadway was repaved earlier this year, rumble strips and reflectors were placed in the shoulder for a considerable distance before the bridge, coming from both directions. To safely negotiate this hazard, you need to merge into the regular traffic lane. While this is not fun, the rider who attempted to ride through them this weekend crashed.

Roger Pierce

Gliders Group Captain, Gainesville Cycling Club

http://gccfla.org/

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