Guest_ringledman_* Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 M6 J8-14. Not fit for purpose? I propose an extra 3 lanes either side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Build it they will drive... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
libspero Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 M6 J8-14. Not fit for purpose? I propose an extra 3 lanes either side. Why stop at 14.. J16 to 18 is often congested. J16 is a problem junction on its own anyway.. usually long queues on the A500. J17 needs a proper overhead roundabout. The answer for your stretch is that it's just expensive given the buildings you would have to demolish en-route through Birmingham. Plus you would need a clever way of building the road on top of the railway line that currently runs along side. It's why they built the Toll road you cheap skate They really do need at look seriously at the M5/M6 junction though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pl1 Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Is any motorway in the UK fit for purpose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffy666 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Why stop at 14.. J16 to 18 is often congested. J16 is a problem junction on its own anyway.. usually long queues on the A500. J17 needs a proper overhead roundabout. The answer for your stretch is that it's just expensive given the buildings you would have to demolish en-route through Birmingham. Plus you would need a clever way of building the road on top of the railway line that currently runs along side. It's why they built the Toll road you cheap skate They really do need at look seriously at the M5/M6 junction though. You'd have to do something like build a 150+ mile long bypass to the west - roughly on the route of the A449 - to get around the entire Birmingham/Wolverhampton area. A bit like the toll road bypasses the whole Northern Birmingham bit (or would if anyone bothered to use it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Last time we went down they were allowing people to use the hard shoulder as a lane. That made a huge difference. Whilst the traffic was slower it kept moving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffy666 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Is any motorway in the UK fit for purpose? M69 M48 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankief Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Is any motorway in the UK fit for purpose? UK Highways are well designed and well built. But overpopulation = too much traffic. Saturation point approaches. 'Growth' is good for the country, that's what we are told by the politicians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffy666 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Is any motorway in the UK fit for purpose? The M25 is fit for purpose. You just don't want to know the purpose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 The M25 is fit for purpose. You just don't want to know the purpose. You read Neil Gaiman? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 You read Neil Gaiman? The bit of that book that probably isn't fiction? The problem with motorways is that adding extra lanes becomes a game of diminishing returns. Look at the standard of the motorways, and a map of where they are, and they're generally OK (with a few glaring gaps, such as the A14 not being motorway). As said above, it's another effect of overpopulation. Having lots of fairly large, closely-located cities means that there's a lot of traffic between them. Multiple motorways going the same way is probably the only thing that'll relieve the most crowded parts (as far as Birmingham goes the M6 Toll really needs de-tolling if it's going to do anything useful for congestion). For the bit further north a new motorway parallel to the M6, probably a direct Birmingham to Manchester one, is about the only thing that'll help there because, as said, the M6 isn't built too far off the maximum possible (4 lanes would relieve it somewhat). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 The bit of that book that probably isn't fiction? Who knows ... do surveyors on motorways notice if something's been moved overnight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffy666 Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 You read Neil Gaiman? Didn't remember the name, but that was where the idea was from.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Did 200miles from S. Wales to Manchester in 3hours this morning, coming that way. Not quite sure what the problem is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bossybabe Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 The answer for your stretch is that it's just expensive given the buildings you would have to demolish en-route through Birmingham. Plus you would need a clever way of building the road on top of the railway line that currently runs along side. It's why they built the Toll road you cheap skate They really do need at look seriously at the M5/M6 junction though. Now, think, Libspero. Would that be a problem really? UK Highways are well designed and well built. But overpopulation = too much traffic. Saturation point approaches. 'Growth' is good for the country, that's what we are told by the politicians. Just drive on the continent, or Australia to get an idea of what it's like to have space - we are overcrowded, and it ain't improving. Getting out is my only answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
efdemin Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Did 200miles from S. Wales to Manchester in 3hours this morning, coming that way. Not quite sure what the problem is? Try it again on Friday evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
19 year mortgage 8itch Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Try it again on Friday evening. It was pretty much stationary N/B from 8 to 18 on the way down on Friday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 UK Highways are well designed and well built. But overpopulation = too much traffic. Saturation point approaches. 'Growth' is good for the country, that's what we are told by the politicians. Sort the railways out and get the freight onto them...this guided bus way in Cambridge looks good using the old train track. http://www.rail.co/2011/08/08/cambridgeshires-guided-busway-opens-to-passengers/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankief Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Just drive on the continent, or Australia to get an idea of what it's like to have space - we are overcrowded, and it ain't improving. Yes, but it helps our Insurance industry if we have more shunts. We don't manufacture anything any more so this has got to be a 'growth' industry! We must encourage people to drive closer together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest_ringledman_* Posted August 8, 2011 Author Share Posted August 8, 2011 It was pretty much stationary N/B from 8 to 18 on the way down on Friday. I was stuck in it. Absolute nightmare. From J8 to J16 took around 3.5hrs... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Sadman Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Is any motorway in the UK fit for purpose? The A1(M) Huntingdon to peterborough is pretty much perfect. Dead straight, 8 lanes, lights all the way along it, no speed traps. Every car ive ever had ive managed to top out there, got a 140 on the last one, and still people wanted to overtake! Part of Thatchers 'Roads to prosperity' scheme. Unfortunately thats as far as it got. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Sadman Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Build it they will drive... I dont really buy that. It might have been true in the 60s when road traffic was growing double digits each year, but now, with cars making 95% or so of all journeys outside London, it cant logically go much higher. In fact, in school holidays, rush hour traffic is decidedly better, leading me to believe a couple of extra % of capacity would pretty much eliminate gridlock situations. Obviously London is simply too high density. But most other places would be OK. Milton Keynes still flows Despite all the growth it's had, much to the agitation of greenies who say such a situation is impossible (they want to narrow most the grid roads) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hollys master Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 upgrade the A50 from Derby to Stoke from dual carriageway to motorway and it will take 1/4 of the traffic from the m6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riedquat Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Sort the railways out and get the freight onto them...this guided bus way in Cambridge looks good using the old train track. http://www.rail.co/2011/08/08/cambridgeshires-guided-busway-opens-to-passengers/ It would look good if it had been reopened as railway... I wouldn't be too optimistic about getting much more freight onto the railways. Rail freight only works well if there are large and fairly regular deliveries between the same places. It used to make other deliveries too but was inefficient at doing so, which is why so much moved onto the roads when the roads and vehicles started being up to the job. Coal straight from a mine (or a port, these days) to a power station works very well by rail but if you've got to move a bit by road at either end then it starts getting slow and expensive, even if innovations such as standard containers make it easier than it used to be. upgrade the A50 from Derby to Stoke from dual carriageway to motorway and it will take 1/4 of the traffic from the m6 Noo! It'll make by handy Birmingham-dodge route much less attractive! Actually, just painting the signs blue and doing the same with the lines on maps will do that. Motorways can be dual carriageway too (although it would be a rather substandard one with the roundabouts in it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fluffy666 Posted August 9, 2011 Share Posted August 9, 2011 I was stuck in it. Absolute nightmare. From J8 to J16 took around 3.5hrs... You can use the A34-A500 to leave at 14 and get back on at 16, on dual carriageway (although the A34 has speed cameras every 10 centimeters). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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