It got the ''about'' bit right - just a shame about the ''round''.
Go Bus yesterday took one of its vehicles for a test drive around a new roundabout at the busy Forbury Rd-Bedford St-Victoria Rd intersection at St Clair - and things did not appear to go well.
Edging gingerly from Bedford St left into Forbury Rd, the bus had to take an extremely wide turn, taking it well across the centre line.
The bus then came to a halt, sparking an animated conversation between officials gathered to watch the tests.
While there appeared to be plenty of issues with the roundabout, Dunedin City Council Transport Group manager Richard Saunders called the trial a success: finding issues at this stage meant they could be fixed before the roundabout went into service, he said.
''It has given us the feedback we required to make sure the roundabout operates as intended.''
The new roundabout had been designed so buses and other large vehicles could drive slowly over it to navigate the corner, while other vehicles stayed within sealed lanes, Mr Saunders said.
''Works are not quite complete. Following the trial today we will be adding to the height of the asphalt on the road to make it a smoother movement for those large vehicles.''
The roundabout is expected to be open before Christmas.
Patronage on Dunedin's bus services has risen sharply in recent months.
A report to the Otago Regional Council has said bus use for August increased by 13,897 passengers over the corresponding time last year.
The rises were sustained, as September passenger numbers were up 14,000 and October's up 13,082 from 2016.
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Yet another example of 'well done dcc planners' (spot the facetiousness)
At huge expense an unnecessary roundabout has been built. The congestion is minimal anyway but if something was needed it could have been a set of traffic lights—at a fraction of the cost.
And in another front page news, Dunedin city councillors have almost unanimously backed a big-spending budget for Council's $854m vision ... $850m of which will be used on rectifying roundabouts and cycleways that are more of a hazard than a safety measure.
Surely the roading "engineers" for the DCC can work out the minimum turning circle of a bus / truck and make a roundabout an appropriate size. Larger vehicles going over the roundabout defeats the purpose and you can bet the general public will start going across it as well.
This is just one more example from a long list of the council making some very costly mistakes that have had to be fixed, I assume, at the ratepayers expense.
It's obvious that the DCC don't know what they're doing and need to be seen performing their "learning curves" at ratepayers expense. Perhaps they should have gone back to basics and drawn or painted a circle at the intersection, then try to negotiate a bus around it. Cost? A piece of chalk or tin of paint and a brush plus a couple of hours labour. Sounds pretty simple to me.
But no, they have to block off the area for weeks, construct a useless high-sided roundabout then decide that the road needs to be raised to suit. Wouldn't it have been better to make the edges of the roundabout flush with the existing road? Wait a minute - that's too sensible. Let's just increase the rates, it's easier.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.
The Otago Regional Council have requested these extra long buses that go round and round the city 90% empty. They should have gone for half the size to suit Dunedin's streets and population. Don't believe ORC's figures BTW- they had a 'free day' which boosted numbers. Look carefully through those tinted windows for the truth.
I'm in total agreement with Nash. I'd like to add that quite a few weekend timetables have buses running every half hour and most of the time the only person on board is the driver. Also, when the ORC devised the new routes did they actually travel them? If so, one can only assume they did it in a car rather than a bus as many streets are far too narrow and in many instances buses cannot negotiate corners without crossing the centre line.
Getting back to roundabouts. After this mess-up, one wonders what sort of disasters the DCC will create when they construct the three proposed roundabouts at Green Island. The mind boggles.