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Motorbike men enjoy improving highways
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| Councillor Derek Prodger, Worcestershire County Council's cabinet member for the environment, with county liaison officers for Worcestershire highways department Barry Barnes and Nigel Murray and two of the four BMW R1200GS motorcycles they will use to inspect the county's highways. Picture by John Anyon. 02274901 |
The first call of the day is a report of a loose kerbstone near the entrance to Worcester Sixth Form College.
One of the council's four highways liaison officers, Nigel Murray arrives on his BMW R1200GS - a bike made famous by Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman in the Long Way Round TV series.
Although the £10,000 bikes do not carry the tools for this job, he can assess what action is needed, highlight the area with paint and notify the highways depot, which will send a team to carry out the repair within seven days.
The bikes carry a small set of tools which can be used to cut overhanging branches, trim overgrown hedges, fix road signs or remove fly-posters, but they cannot repair potholes or major road defects.
They also carry digital cameras, which can be used to photograph evidence for insurance claims.
Mr Murray explained why two wheels are better than four.
"It's very good for manoeuvrability and getting from A to B quite quickly through heavy traffic," he said. "In the bad weather they have been invaluable."
Another officer, Steve Murch, said jobs can come in at a rate of 300 a day. Each rider has an average of 20.
"The jobs we get vary from a sign put up on the side of a road to major potholes and roads washed away during the floods," he said. "The variety is astounding sometimes.
"To get from one side of Worcester to another in a car was very slow sitting in traffic with a car engine running for long periods of time isn't economical, whereas on the bike you can just nip through and it's more environmentally friendly.
"The carbon footprint on a bike is virtually non-existent."
He said the team is made up of experienced bikers - a requirement for the role.
"If you can get people in who already have the motorcycle training, that is a cost that the council doesn't have to incur," he said.
"We love it. A couple of guys can't believe they are getting paid to ride a motorbike at work. But when it's wet and windy, you sometimes think you could do with a 4x4!"
| If you have a motorcyclist doing 60 or 70mph and they come across a pothole, it's a serious issue. There's an awful lot of motorcyclists and pedal cyclists out there. | | Derek Prodger, cabinet member for environment |
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Mr Murch said the team have on-going in-house training, for example in traffic management.
Derek Prodger, the council's cabinet member for environment, said the introduction of the motorbike-mounted officers had been a huge success, especially with the recent bad weather.
"Unfortunately, the last rainfall we had a few weeks ago has caused a lot more damage out there, so having these motorcycles gets them on to the locations where problems are speedily and quickly dealt with," he said.
He said the inspiration for the idea came after discussions with the council's environmental services director John Hobbs.
"He's a motorcyclist himself and he was saying that with these congested roads, these traffic jams around the city, we are not getting on site very quickly. With a motorcycle you can get through any traffic jams and congested areas quickly.
"If you have a motorcyclist doing 60 or 70mph and they come across a pothole, it's a serious issue. There's an awful lot of motorcyclists and pedal cyclists out there."
Coun Prodger says response times have been halved, with the highways depots in Malvern Link and Lydiate Ash, Bromsgrove, receiving double the workload.
He said the council has also been able to remove two vans from the roads. "It's made the depots more efficient," he said. The most important thing is to get the work done as promptly as you can.
"I think what it means is we are spending the money in the highways budget more effectively and efficiently."
He said the feedback from the public had also been very positive.
"I hope more county councils follow our lead," he said.
What are your views on this? What are your views about bikers in general? A reader wants to know in our Your Say section here.10:48am Friday 28th March 2008
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CommentPosted by: boo, worcester on 11:01am Fri 28 Mar 08
[quote]Derek Prodger, the council's cabinet member for environment, said the introduction of the motorbike-mounted officers had been a huge success, especially with the recent bad weather.[/quote]
oh poor things getting cold and wet, catch the bus like you want us to...
Derek Prodger, the council's cabinet member for environment, said the introduction of the motorbike-mounted officers had been a huge success, especially with the recent bad weather.
oh poor things getting cold and wet, catch the bus like you want us to...
Posted by: Private Sector Worker, Kidderminster on 12:38pm Fri 28 Mar 08
Boo - I do not understand your comment, no-one is complaining about riding in the bad weather!! Read the article properly before making such silly irrelevant comments!
Boo - I do not understand your comment, no-one is complaining about riding in the bad weather!! Read the article properly before making such silly irrelevant comments!
Posted by: boo, worcester on 12:51pm Fri 28 Mar 08
my appologies i hit the submit button by mistake before i had concluded my comment
my appologies i hit the submit button by mistake before i had concluded my comment
Posted by: Outraged, Pergatory on 1:28pm Fri 28 Mar 08
Relevant Quote:
[quote]"We love it. A couple of guys can't believe they are getting paid to ride a motorbike at work. But when it's wet and windy, you sometimes think you could do with a 4x4!"[/quote]
Relevant Quote:
"We love it. A couple of guys can't believe they are getting paid to ride a motorbike at work. But when it's wet and windy, you sometimes think you could do with a 4x4!"
Posted by: chippie, Worcester on 2:22pm Fri 28 Mar 08
Hopefully the motorcyclists didn't ride to the Sixth Form - it would have been quicker to walk surely and save the planet
Hopefully the motorcyclists didn't ride to the Sixth Form - it would have been quicker to walk surely and save the planet
Posted by: Darrenm, Worcester on 6:34pm Fri 28 Mar 08
Hmmm "The carbon footprint on a bike is virtually non-existent." how does he think they manufacturer it in the first place then?
Hmmm "The carbon footprint on a bike is virtually non-existent." how does he think they manufacturer it in the first place then?
Posted by: Flagman, worcester on 7:18pm Fri 28 Mar 08
Pity they didn't consider the "carbon footprint" when puchasing the Mercedes a few weeks back.
Pity they didn't consider the "carbon footprint" when puchasing the Mercedes a few weeks back.
Posted by: Outraged, Pergatory on 7:59pm Fri 28 Mar 08
Don't forget - carbon footprints & other environmental issues are merely utilized as mechanisms for taxing "ordinary" people and don't apply to the so-called "Elite" super-greedy-hyper-r
ich including politicians & councillors, local & national ... (remember - cream isn't the only thing that "rises to the top").
Don't forget - carbon footprints & other environmental issues are merely utilized as mechanisms for taxing "ordinary" people and don't apply to the so-called "Elite" super-greedy-hyper-r
ich including politicians & councillors, local & national ... (remember - cream isn't the only thing that "rises to the top").
Posted by: am, Worcester on 12:54pm Sat 29 Mar 08
These highways liaison officers can't be doing a good job then because the state of our roads is appaling.
These highway liaison staff appear to be useless in fact, when you take into account that they are suppose to be cleaning out the highway drains, but fail to do so. You know who you are Mr Fullee, Mr Comerford and now these motorcycle people.
These highways liaison officers can't be doing a good job then because the state of our roads is appaling.
These highway liaison staff appear to be useless in fact, when you take into account that they are suppose to be cleaning out the highway drains, but fail to do so. You know who you are Mr Fullee, Mr Comerford and now these motorcycle people.
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