Rubber Traffic Islands | Overview

This video takes you through our modular Rubber Traffic Islands.

This system is made from recycled rubber as an alternative to traditional concrete and where rubber is typically used is where you need fast installation because of the bolt down method, which reduces your temporary traffic management costs. It’s a great option for projects where you may want to trial or test a new road layout before upgrading to permanent. This is because once the trial is finished, you can remove the bolts easily and relocate the islands to another location.

These islands are used in a range of applications including:

  • curb build outs
  • traffic islands
  • lane separation
  • cycleway separation.

If you’re only needing a narrow lane divider, you may want to check out our Rubber Cycleway Islands, which are only half a meter wide. Whereas the rubber traffic island, with its modular design, allows you to build larger traffic islands to suit your project.

We often see this system also used in temporary traffic management applications. For example, where contractors may need to provide temporary pedestrian refuge islands as a safe crossing point during construction works. The system is made up of three main components. So we have an edge module here and then a corner module, and we also have a centre module or an internal module for larger build outs. And these parts all allow you to build different shape islands depending on what project you’re working on.

Each component is five hundred millimetres wide and five hundred millimetres long, and we are able to custom make these islands in some situations, but this is typically only to form a right angle triangle. If you’re in to create custom shaped traffic islands, you’d be best to check out our Modular Rubber Kerbing, which allows you to build specific shapes. Where this system is best suited is for rectangular shapes because you can use the modules as they are without needing to do additional cutting work.

The edge modules and the corner modules are supplied with 3-M reflective coating on the edges, and this provides great visibility at nighttime and helps vehicles to see the islands as they approach. It also removes the need for any additional coatings to be applied once you’ve installed.

Each module is supplied with a steel connector, four screw and ground plug sets and four rubber caps to fill the fixing hole and the steel connectors help to tie each module together which provides strength on the installation.

If you’re working on a project where you want to use some form of rubber traffic island, feel free to send your plans and ideas to us to review, and we can help you design and select the right island to use. Otherwise, if you have any questions about the product, our team are always here to assist.

Rubber Pedestrian Crossings: How A Trial-First Approach Delivered Results

Have you ever wanted to trial speed calming improvements on your roads without committing to a permanent installation? Or perhaps you’ve already installed a permanent concrete or asphalt speed calmer but now it’s not working out and you’re needing to make adjustments?

In this video we’re going to look at how Napier City Council used a Modular Rubber Speed Table to trial speed calming improvements outside a kindergarten on a very busy road and we’ll look at how they were able to build and gain community support and then implement a successful trial period.

The purpose of this project was to slow down vehicle traffic on a busy road near a kindergarten where parents and children were crossing every day.

There were three main reasons why modular rubber raised tables were chosen:

  1. The ability for it to be quickly installed, which reduces temporary traffic management costs and reduces disruption to the road network during installation.
  2. It was easier for the council to get their community on board with the project with it being positioned as a trial rather than a permanent installation, and
  3. Being a bolt down product it gave Napier Council the ability to relocate or remove the table if it didn’t prove effective.

This proved valuable on this particular project because after the installation was put in place, the Council got some community feedback about the positioning of the table and they were able to uplift and relocate it to a more suitable position on the road.

The Council’s project manager said, “I personally found it much easier talking to businesses and residents about the crossings as a trial and promising to monitor the sites following installation and remove it if we needed to”.

So by using the modular rubber speed tables, their contractor was able to get this installation complete within five hours and reopen to traffic again – much less disruption and less temporary traffic management compared to traditional asphalt or concrete methods.

One year on from the installation, the Council have found that this installation is actually working well and it’s being effective at slowing down vehicle speeds outside the kindergarten, and the community are also on board with how it’s performing. Rather than deciding to spend more money on upgrading this to a concrete race table, the Council have decided to leave this in as it is, and we expect to see this last for at least another five years yet.

If you’re looking to trial speed calming improvements in your community, and you’re wondering whether modular rubber raised tables could be the right option for you or not, then get in touch with us and we’d love to have a chat about your project.

Read the full article here.