‘Edge-drop’ problem in KK attended to
Published on: Monday, December 16, 2019
THE government concessionaire has attended to the discrepancy between the level of the road and a grille in one part of Signal Hill.
This follows a Kepayan cyclist misgivings about the hazards posed by a “drop” between the surface of the road and a covered drain on one side of the main road leading to the Istana.
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A spokeswoman for the firm said an inspection was carried out shortly after the management was made aware of the problem on November 27.
“Our site supervisor confirmed the problem created by the ‘edge-drop’ between the road and the grille,” she said on December 11.
“Cement was applied to the perimeter of the grill almost two weeks later to ensure that the structure was level with the road.”
Given the heavy traffic and bends in the road, she said the company’s staff would step up efforts to check on the condition of the stretch, including the drain covers, to ensure that this problem did not recur.
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STEPHEN of Kepayan said the discrepancy in the height between the level of the road and the grille placed over the drain caused vehicles to jolt as they went over this section of the road.
“There is a seven-inch gap between the surface of the road and the grille,” he said.
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He said the smaller the vehicle the bigger the jolt the driver would experience as they went over this sunken grille cover.
“Recreational cyclists like me and motorcyclists could easily be thrown from their bikes.
“I experienced this first hand two years ago when my wheel hit a covered grille which runs across a housing road in Austral Park.”
Steve injured his right hand, as well as scrapped his palms, as a result of the fall.
As he slowed down to negotiate the slight slope, which led to the covered drain, the front wheel of his bicycle apparently hit one of the grills, throwing him forward.
“I landed head first and fractured my right hand. It took me almost two months to recover.
“Up to now, I still cannot stretch my last finger fully.”
Stephen said he and his friends regularly cycled along Signal Hill in the wee hours.
“Cyclists may not realise that there is a drop in front of them because of the reduced visibility at this time of the morning.
“On top of this, the grille may be covered beneath a bed of dry leaves and twigs after it rains.”
He said motorists risked being hit from behind as they slowed down to go over the grille cover.
“Alternately, if drivers swerve to avoid it, they risk colliding with oncoming traffic.”
Stephen hoped the local authorities would intervene quickly to address this irregularity.
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“I hope they are not waiting for a bad accident to happen, and someone to come to harm or worse, before attending to the grille.”
He provided Hotline with the location of this structure. This information was forwarded to the Public Works Department. (SS)