‘Citizen road worker’: Yamanto man makes fake Council line markings

Months after erecting a “keep left’’ sign on his street, an Ipswich man has randomly painted his own lookalike council road markings after taking issue with long grass and parking.

A Yamanto man randomly paints his own, lookalike Council road markings after issues with long verge grass. Picture: Reddit

A man in Ipswich’s west has taken matters into his own hands and enlisted the help of neighbours to make his street “safer’’ by painting lines that look like official Council road markings.

The man, who also erected a sign at the intersection of Goddards Rd and Suffield Drive in Yamanto, painted lines on the road in an apparent effort to make the intersection safer.

The “citizen road worker took it upon himself to make a keep-left sign out of cardboard, complete with orange buckets and witches hats to stop people driving in the middle of the road.

In a Reddit post by a neighbour, the man alleged he had nearly been hit by motorists coming around the corner when he went for his afternoon walks.

He alleged that because the road was poorly graded and uncurbed, grass grew up to 1.5m high, restricting visibility and also forcing him to walk on the road.

In a letter to his neighbours in January, the man told them he had erected the sign at the intersection.

“It is simple, legible, understandable. It conveys our neighbourhood’s safety concerns, politely requesting voluntary compliance,” the letter said.

“It does not plagiarise the ubiquitous standard official ‘keep left’ signs.

“Although the simplified spelling of words may appear to be unusual at first, this sign was designed to be different … courteous, unique, effective”.

In the letter, the man also thanked several neighbours who helped him with the sign as a “belated Christmas present”.

“May it serve to protect us all,” he wrote.

Ipswich City Council declined to comment on the matter, as no official complaint has been made.

The letter to neighbours written by the Yamanto man. Picture: Supplied

The person who posted about the matter on social media platform Reddit confirmed the citizen road worker had enlisted the help of others to paint road lines.

The markings were in high-visibility paint. Handmade cardboard and permanent “witches hats’’ were placed on the street in an attempt to stop people driving over the paint before it dried.

“Because there is no curbing and the road is between paddocks, the grass grows tall on the roadside where you would expect having a stopping lane,” the Reddit poster said.

“Cars going in either direction tend to drive in the middle of that road while going around the corner.

“The citizen road worker tends to walk around at dusk and claims to have been nearly clipped a number of times by cars because he walks on the road next to the tall grass, rather than crossing onto the other side where there is a decent easement.

“Earlier this year, he walked around with a petition to Council to widen the road.

“So far they have come and scrapped the grass off one side to give us a wider bitumen/dirt combo.

“No indication yet of plans to do a permanent repave of the lot given that was done well before Christmas last year.’’

The “unique, courteous, effective” sign at the end of Suffield Dr, Yamanto. Picture: Supplied.

Commenters questioned the effectiveness and legality of the initial sign because of its “unique” spelling.

One posted that the sign, which read “Pliz kiip left wen kornering”, was distracting.

“The problem with that corner is visibility, which the sign will obstruct,” another posted.

Others questioned why the man did not just mow the grass.

“Might be easier than constructing signs and painting the road and then dealing with Council when you get fined for it,” they said.

Another posted: “If a motorcycle turns the corner and touches the paint, they could slip and slide or hit someone crossing the road.

“There’s a reason why Councils use glass beading and fire to lay these road markings down”.