The Hauralki Rail Trail judder bars.

Derrick from Thames

I see one of our local cyclists has suggested on the Hauraki Rail Trail's Facebook page that the many cross gates on the rail corridor should be left open when not in actual use, so that cyclists can bypass the dangerous judder bar cattle stops. This was the railtrail authority's response. One concludes they are not being given access to funds. I quote. "If we crowd funded $75K we could have these cattlestops completely fixed. Worth a thought?" So after the already exorbitant costs to all local ratepayers to install these useless gates and their juxtaposed judder bars there is now need of another $75,000 to fix the fiasco. This was my response to their Facebook page but few will ever read it because such comments tend to get buried by the system. Thus I repeat my forthright comments here. "There are many cattle races on the plains that cross sealed public roads that are four to five times wider than the narrow rail corridor. NONE of them have gates across them. Thus the many cross gates and their dangerous judder bar cattle stops on the rail trail are a complete waste of ratepayer's money (54 between Thames and Paeroa alone). All that is needed is for two hot wires to be run across the corridor when required. Indeed, the cross gates on the rail corridor are an insult to competent farmers but we seem to have few of these alongside the rail corridor. Currently a number of the judder bars have eroded approaches which is making them increasingly dangerous both to our bikes and bodies. Local cycling groups are aware of accidents due directly to the judder bars, some involving broken bones. Furthermore, mothers with babies in cycle carriers have been seen on the Thames section, so there is the potential for a very tragic accident. Promoting the Thames to Paeroa section as family friendly is currently very irresponsible. The current situation reeks of criminal negligence especially as the situation can be fixed quickly and very cheaply. Simply get rid of the cross gates but in the meantime demand that they ALL be left open."