Somme Parade ... Whanganui's road cone alley, says reader. Photo / file
Road cone alley
Daily users of the city end of Somme Parade may be wondering why they have been forced, for several weeks, to navigate a 100 metre-long forest of orange cones and red signs occupying the cycle lanes.
They may be dangerously distracted by a mass of messages including
a stick man with what could be a shovel and the words "On side road". Others have messages like "30 Temporary" and finally "50 Works End" for bikes, cars and the big rigs travelling north or south via the convenient shortcut from State Highway 3.
Those passing over the past couple of weeks, including two weekends so far, may be wondering how much ratepayers' cash our council is spending to warrant all this disruption. But the answer is none, because just around the corner a footpath is blocked by orange construction fencing and an upside-down stickman pointing across Church St.
At the time of writing three or four trucks, including one pouring concrete, have briefly visited a dwelling where a small driveway and footpath crossing are being replaced.
Needless to say, after all this time traffic treats it as a joke and continues on its merry way at 50km/h+. Cyclists stick to the relative safety of the Somme Pde footpath, thus extending the danger to pedestrians.
