Monte Classico - Route Safety Concerns

[MDB1997]

4 hours ago, buckstopper said:

I did my last my last August in 2005. Stampeding down the M3 in a 250 strong herd was quite scary given the different levels of "herd discipline" (C group). And then the crash- a huge cacophony of chaos and the inevitable domino effect. I dodged that one but some of the pro ladies weren't so lucky. Bunches are not without risk, as is going out on your ace, or not exercising for that matter. Just manage the risk as much as you can. BTW I didn't enter because I'm still doing base. I must say I do have some reservations about Peter Rd intersection (and the ones before on Beyers), the Cosmo Mall one, Douglas and Cedar. We need lap racing Belgium/Europe style here. Like crits but maybe longer laps, surely less intersections to manage, less cost? More spectators too maybe. Wed pm races at the Cradle maybe. Maybe worthy of its own thread.

......ramblings of an old fart...

I was actually thinking earlier it would be cool if Kyalami opened up once/twice a month for cyclists and runners to just do laps. They do this with some of the F1 circuits overseas.

[The Ouzo]

18 minutes ago, MDB1997 said:

I was actually thinking earlier it would be cool if Kyalami opened up once/twice a month for cyclists and runners to just do laps. They do this with some of the F1 circuits overseas.

they used to do this in the past

[OVERDRIVE]

1 hour ago, MDB1997 said:

I was actually thinking earlier it would be cool if Kyalami opened up once/twice a month for cyclists and runners to just do laps. They do this with some of the F1 circuits overseas.

This is the best idea ever. Matter of preference guys-those who are going be safe. Current climate just not conducive to that route. And the Organizers know this. 

[stringbean]

Currently owners just not interested.

Been approached on couple of occasions with options.

‘Willing to pay,after hours etc etc but he’s just not interested in cyclists.

Would rather have a empty track than have cyclists on it

[peetwindhoek]

TLDR: The organizers' approach sent out in the race brief.

"ROUTE CONTROL 
 
The Montecasino Classico is run through intersection control by Joburg Metro Police and Mogale City Metro, along with a strong on-road support presence from these entities and static support from SAPS. A total of 102 JMPD officers are on duty and 30 members of the Mogale City Traffic Police.
 
In addition, more than 130 members of our experienced marshal crew, lead by Patrick Smit, are being deployed and 20 motorbike marshals will be managed by the seasoned Craig Bezuidenhout from the Road Rangers.
 
A team of police reservists with experience in intersection control are also being deployed at strategic points.
 
All of these entities are in contact with the Venue Operations Centre (VOC)  control room which is set up at Montecasino.
 
The VOC consists of representatives from all the SAPS offices on route, JMPD, Mogale City Metro, Montecasino’s safety officer, JMPD head of events, the event safety officer and the head of our medical crew.
 
The race start towards the Cradle on Witkoppen and Beyers Naude presents quiet roads on a Sunday morning. When we pass Zandrift it’s also still early morning on a Sunday with little  traffic. SAPS will have a presence at Zandrift though as a precautionary measure. 
 
Road users now generally avoid the roads in the Cradle on a Sunday because it’s become known as a cycling area. Most clubs that ride in the Cradle on a Sunday have seen a number of their riders entered, so most cyclists in the Cradle will be part of the race on race day.
 
The busier sections in the final 10km on Malibongwe and Witkoppen Roads have formed the main topic of our JOC meetings and JMPD and SAPS are employing a large personnel base on this section and diverting traffic wherever possible. 
 
The route on this section is on double laned roads, which naturally creates a protected and flowing left hand 
lane passage for cyclists on race day. 
 
Awareness signage has been erected on the race route and all media channels have been informed to include the race in their traffic advisories.
 
We utilise the same blueprint as we implemented with the Emperors Palace Classic, and the key to this is having double laned roads in busy areas to ensure the safe flow of the race along with normal traffic flow."

[FondTF2]

Still not convinced. Will be playing in the dirt (MTB) rather than playing dodgeball with cars/bikes/taxis.

 

[The Ouzo]

23 minutes ago, peetwindhoek said:

Awareness signage has been erected on the race route and all media channels have been informed to include the race in their traffic advisories.

I'm sorry to say this but most races, even the big ones get this very very wrong.

They chuck up a couple of signs, that are not the easiest to read, on street posts here and there and then perhaps the odd announcement on a radio station.

With the 947 I very often chat to people that stay or work in the areas it passes through and they have no idea the race is on until on the day their streets are closed.

 

What more can they do ? I dont actually know, maybe some more legible signage (for goodness sake people use bigger font and have less text) and more of the signage in places where people drive slower so they can take notice of it.

[Danger Dassie]

Have some friends who are doing this, I wont lie, I am a bit concerned.
Even if the safety is not an issue I don't see how it will be an enjoyable ride with all the disruption. 
These are already congested sections amongst high density residential areas. 
A lesson that was hard learnt at the ToSA. 

Hopefully we see a successful day however, but I do think there are a number of factors that the press release under estimate.

[love2fly]

3 hours ago, peetwindhoek said:

TLDR: The organizers' approach sent out in the race brief.

"ROUTE CONTROL 
 
The Montecasino Classico is run through intersection control by Joburg Metro Police and Mogale City Metro, along with a strong on-road support presence from these entities and static support from SAPS. A total of 102 JMPD officers are on duty and 30 members of the Mogale City Traffic Police.
 
In addition, more than 130 members of our experienced marshal crew, lead by Patrick Smit, are being deployed and 20 motorbike marshals will be managed by the seasoned Craig Bezuidenhout from the Road Rangers.
 
A team of police reservists with experience in intersection control are also being deployed at strategic points.
 
All of these entities are in contact with the Venue Operations Centre (VOC)  control room which is set up at Montecasino.
 
The VOC consists of representatives from all the SAPS offices on route, JMPD, Mogale City Metro, Montecasino’s safety officer, JMPD head of events, the event safety officer and the head of our medical crew.
 
The race start towards the Cradle on Witkoppen and Beyers Naude presents quiet roads on a Sunday morning. When we pass Zandrift it’s also still early morning on a Sunday with little  traffic. SAPS will have a presence at Zandrift though as a precautionary measure. 
 
Road users now generally avoid the roads in the Cradle on a Sunday because it’s become known as a cycling area. Most clubs that ride in the Cradle on a Sunday have seen a number of their riders entered, so most cyclists in the Cradle will be part of the race on race day.
 
The busier sections in the final 10km on Malibongwe and Witkoppen Roads have formed the main topic of our JOC meetings and JMPD and SAPS are employing a large personnel base on this section and diverting traffic wherever possible. 
 
The route on this section is on double laned roads, which naturally creates a protected and flowing left hand 
lane passage for cyclists on race day. 
 
Awareness signage has been erected on the race route and all media channels have been informed to include the race in their traffic advisories.
 
We utilise the same blueprint as we implemented with the Emperors Palace Classic, and the key to this is having double laned roads in busy areas to ensure the safe flow of the race along with normal traffic flow."

I've worked in the JOC and on events with JMPD and their events mgr.....Doesn't fill me with confidence. SAPS? Are you kidding me? The best guys for the job are generally the ORRU (Off Road Rescue) guys and the Outsurance pointsmen.....but that is for full road closure. I fear that people are going to get hurt here....I sincerely hope I'm wrong!

[rorydewet]

3 hours ago, peetwindhoek said:

The race start towards the Cradle on Witkoppen and Beyers Naude presents quiet roads on a Sunday morning. When we pass Zandrift it’s also still early morning on a Sunday with little  traffic. SAPS will have a presence at Zandrift though as a precautionary measure. 
 

this is how clued up they are about the route

let me help them with an edit to the above

The race start towards the Cradle on Witkoppen and Beyers Naude presents quiet roads on a Sunday morning. When we pass Zandspruit it’s also still early morning on a Sunday with little  traffic. SAPS will have a presence at Zandspruit though as a precautionary measure. 

Guys it Zandspruit not Zandsdrift

also where have you ever seen Witkoppen and Beyers not busy.

[Danger Dassie]

What are the start times?

[rorydewet]

53 minutes ago, Danger Dassie said:

What are the start times?

600 am first batch

[WR 1.0]

1 hour ago, rorydewet said:

this is how clued up they are about the route

let me help them with an edit to the above

The race start towards the Cradle on Witkoppen and Beyers Naude presents quiet roads on a Sunday morning. When we pass Zandspruit it’s also still early morning on a Sunday with little  traffic. SAPS will have a presence at Zandspruit though as a precautionary measure. 

Guys it Zandspruit not Zandsdrift

also where have you ever seen Witkoppen and Beyers not busy.

SAPS was clearing out some informal traders yesterday at the intersection at Zandspruit. There goes the riders chance of stopping for a char-grilled corn on the cob.... racefood!

[OVERDRIVE]

9 hours ago, FondTF2 said:

Still not convinced. Will be playing in the dirt (MTB) rather than playing dodgeball with cars/bikes/taxis.

 

Mate is doing it so will drive in support. not or me 

[OVERDRIVE]

Lets hope this doesn't happen 

 

[Mojoman]

Is this the race that went down the N14 from Cradlestone Mall to the Oaktree garage then down the R563 to the turn off to the caves? If so this was a bit of a pigs ear when I drove past at 7:30 and again heading home again at 8:30...

Cyclists all over, on both sides of the road......marshalls flapping their hands about in vague directions and no-one bothering to pay attention anyway...cars just turning in front of cyclists...cyclists that look behind them then veer off in the opposite direction...Add to that the crazy speeding muppets on motorbikes.....

You are way braver than me to do these events on the roads...
😅

Edited February 13, 2022 by Mojoman