Anyone riding M4?

Hi,

I just wonder how "safe" do you feel when riding M4?

I would like to commute from Parramatta to Huntingwood/Eastern Creek and while M4 seems so very convenient but... As I was driving (westbound) in the left lane and was contemplating how I'd go about cycling on the shoulder I was overtaken by a Mr Commodore using the SHOULDER as the overtaking lane. This was in the morning peak hour and I was doing about 80km/h, folloing a truck. Mr Commodore must have been doing at least 90-100 km/h. I could hear the engine scream as he stepped on it. There was a truck in front of me slowing down the lane a bit, all other lanes quite busy so Mr Commodore obviously could not wait another 10 seconds and had to overtake... There I was, shocked, gripping the steering wheel of my little hatchback -- I have not taken note of the rego I just know the commodore was white...

Now I am having second thoughts on commuting using M4 . Is there anyone who actually uses it? Would you encourage me/recommend M4?

I used to use it (up until about Sep 07) each Wed and Thursday during the PM peak (5:30 -6:30) from Church Street to Wallgrove Rd.

I would recommend it as far as I never struck any serious problems during my many dozens of trips.

The points at which you need to take care are the ramps. You have got to be either very cautious and wait for the gap or very brave and hold your line as the dots start to seperate the two lanes. The exit that gave me most concern was the Merrylands West (Burnett St) exit. The trail of dots forming the exit is not very long, there is not a huge space around it so you are obvious to traffic, cars travel up that hill at huge speeds (usually well in excess of the limit) and there are cars everywhere as Church street is problably the busiest of all the on ramps and is only a 1 or so before.

The other exits (up until Walgrove Rd) are much easier with much more open space around them and better sight lines (the one at the Maccas you can easily take then rejoin the road 500 metres up without losing any momentum - not east bound though)

As for Mr. Commodore, you'd have to live life with the assumption that, so long as you made yourself highly visible, he'd not have done that. Or else you'd have to say that he'd do that (drive dumb and try to speed on the inside between parked cars) on any other road too. In that respect, the M4 is no different to any other busy road.

Scotty

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It feels perfectly safe on the weekend, as long as you don't get on it at its eastern start, where there is a blind, shoulderless corner, but rather at the next entrance. I'm not sure about peak hour. The ramps may even be safer in heavy traffic, as people may be going a little more slowly and paying more attention.

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"All that we see and seem is but a dream, within a dream..."

I have an aversion to most motorways, not because of bad experiences, I just don't like the idea of cars going by me so fast, giving them less time to react. I have ridden on the M2 at night during peak hour and that was freaky enough. Personally, I'd rather find a more scenic, less polluted, more leisurely route.. which part of the M4 were you going to ride on? From Olympic Park to Parramatta there is a cycleway under the M4, then you can potentially take the prospect reservior cycleway all the way out to Blacktown or go via Windsor Rd T way. Just depends where you are headed.

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Rob

www.bikenorth.org.au

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I need to go to Huntingwood Drive (industrial park) and I'd also rather find something less noisy/freaky/polluted. I would use the cycleway but it ends somewhere after Parra and eventually it leads out to the M4 shoulder. I thought of using the Prospect cycleway and actually test-ridden it but when I got to Prospect Reservoir, the gate that connects to Reservoir Rd was closed (locked). I think there was some timetable with opening hours being from 9:30AM, which was too late for me. I need to be on Reservoir Rd at around 8:00 am so I could get to work on time. Windsor road is way too far, I think...

I personally wouldn't ride the M4 in peak hour traffic due to the rather narrow breakdown lane especially compare to ones on the M5's.

I used to ride to Huntingwood as well from the Bankstown area. The route I use is the Prospect cycleway which I took from the Guildford station and all the way to the Prospect reservoir, it is a very enjoyable ride and virtually off traffic. But as you said it only opens after I think sometimes around 8AM, so someones who need to start work earlier than that is not a viable route to travel.

One other way I think of for you to ride from parramatta, is through the backway around Westmead than through Greystane. I don't know the exact route as I don't live local there. But with the Parramatta bunch ride that I did which go through the similar direction and head toward the Huntingwood/Blacktown area, it should be a more viable route to travel on bike I guess.