We had a rather ambiguous note put through the door from Birse this morning. Apparently they are going to be working overnight from 20:00 - 05:00 tarmacing. The ambiguous bit is that the note said for four nights from the 1st to the 27th of May. There was also a grid showing how much they were going to lay and when but it is so small and badly printed it is difficult to work out.
Now where are my earplugs?

Interesting change on the A130 Southbound road this morning. The left hand lane takes you onto the normal road where as the right hand lane takes you onto the Northbound side and feeds back together towards the end. A technique which is regularly used for motorway widening.

Hi all

I am a Leigh resident, a daily commuter on this stretch of road and, like many of you, have been studying it's progress.

I think it will end up being a success.

I know, I know, it might sound like blind optimism, but the way I see it:

A130 traffic = completely eliminated (bar the odd poor soul that misses his turn off!)

That leaves Canvey & Tarpots traffic to go over the new raised road. 2 lanes.

At the end of this road, the road widens to 3 lanes; 1 for Tarpots, 2 for Canvey.

2x Canvey lanes:

Signal controlled, to pass through the roundabout and directly onto Canvey.
IF this Canvey turn off is ever congested, then it has the length of the two lanes PLUS a single lane on the main raised road, where Canvey traffic should already be in lane, leaving the inside lane free for Tarpots.

So, 1 lane for Tarpots:

This widens to two entrances to enter on to the roundabout. The roundabout is signal controlled, but the A13 (E) will be given a good share of priority.

So, where does this traffic then go?

- 1 unobstructed entrance, directly on to the Pitsea minor road (London Road?)
- An unobstructed lane, directly on to the A130, for those that may have missed the link (D'oh)
- 2 lanes on to Tarpots (more on this later)
- Minor traffic to Canvey (for those that missed the initial right turn at lights)

There will be traffic from Tarpots to A130N, but in the evening it should be minimal and in the morning, it will be given priority, with Canvey, over the A13W.

So, the 2 lanes going on to Tarpots:

This widens in to 3 lanes to meet lights:

- An unobstructed left turn into Rushbottom lane.
- An unobstructed right turn into High Road
- An unobstructed central lane continuing to Hadleigh

Consider:

- There will be NO right turn from the Tarpots lights into Rushbottom lane
- Traffic going across Tarpots, from High Road, to Rushbottom, is minimal at best
- Same for Rushbottom across to High Road

This will give the straight lane towards Hadleigh major priority at the lights, meaning a fluid, direct flow of traffic from the main Sadlers Farm roundabout, with minimal tail backs and next to no congestion on the roundabout.


I think what concerns most, is that there is STILL traffic, even with elements of the project open.
But you can see how such minor changes can affect the bigger picture... perfectly illustrated with the current single lane at Tarpots which, just by itself, has added 30 mins to our journeys:

Single lane - minor tailback - trouble getting off roundabout - congestion on roundabout - trouble getting ON to roundabout - major tailbacks on A13E

I think, once all completed and light timings tweaked, we'll have minimal holdups on all routes on and off of the roundabout.

The key point, is that the traffic all slowly, but surely, filters out into a nice well-oiled system, but if something is fecked, then - like most junction - it will have consequences for the rest of it, like what we're (kinda) seeing now, with the single lane at Tarpots.

That's how I see it all anyway!

Feel free to point out my (perhaps glaring) mistakes!

Steve

Just to help matters, there is now a burst water main on the London Road, Benfleet.

I live on the London Road and most of the time I need to head towards London. Before all the roadworks started, if the traffic was backed up, I could indicate right and people would always let me out. If the traffic was flowing freely, I couldn't do this as people completely ignored the 40 then 30 limit so it was just plain dangerous. I would go left towards Tarpots and then round the rounabouts, far safer. I wonder what the traffic flow will be like now and how it will affect getting onto the road?

Many won't be using the A130N slip (yet), as they're taking alternative routes.

The point is to compare how it was a couple of years ago, with the fully regular traffic.

Thanks Steve, and welcome. Some good points made there.

Well the old Church Road bridge was apparently demolished by detonation at 8:20am this morning. Amazingly traffic apart from some delays on the A127 has not been bad at all. I went along the old A13 around 6pm to Sadlers and up the A130, and no traffic whatsoever. I guess the message to get people to stay well clear was heeded. Canvey people were being told not to leave the Island unless absolutely essential. I did go to look at the bridge remains, but couldn't get a good view, with Police also hovering around in a patrol car around the site. At the time they were breaking up the rubble that was all over the road. Looks like it should be open ahead of schedule despite the weather.



Yes it's all gone into contraflow southbound, as work has finally begun on rebuilding the old A130(S). The split begins just after joining from Fairglen, splitting across a short gap to be barriered up by the end of the scheme. Lane 1 southbound uses the recently upgraded bit of s/b road, whilst lane 2 is over the future lane 3 of the A130(N), seperating both directions are the stalk cones, so a little scary if anyone is going well over the limit n/b in lane 2...Traffic re-merges s/b around the point where the slip road to or from the link road will be.

Elsewhere, Sadlers Farm bridge and approaches virtually complete, at least structurally. Subway extension at Southern end of A13 almost complete as well. And varioguard beside A13(W) heading towards bit parallel with Brackendale Avenue was also finally removed yesterday, with work there near enough complete.

More updates on monday or tuesday when I next visit the area. In the meantime here are some photos from friday and the bridge collapse today... https://plus.google.com/photos/11336636 ... 8728404497 https://plus.google.com/photos/11336636 ... 4980447873

Great pictures.

I got home from work last night in the time it used to take me before the works started. Maybe that was the answer to the problem, close the A13.

I actually said goodbye to the bridge as I passed under it for the last time on Friday night.

Sorry one of the links was incorrect. This should work https://plus.google.com/photos/11336636 ... banner=pwa

More photos of the bridge work today, with work now well advanced on gnawing away at the abutments. https://picasaweb.google.com/m/viewer#a ... 6774068433
Looks like a lake built up by the silted landing site due to the continuous heavy rain
At least it kept dust levels down. Should be worth looking at tomorrow.

The biggest problem now is tarpots,it is an absolute mess,it is also now flooded,the surfacing vehicles have probably seized up now they have laid idle for so long,these guys need to get a move on,or traffic is going to be sitting on a bridge next Monday for an awfully long time.Ps the sadlers roundabout was leaking yesterday from the kerbs that are meant to support it,causing one lane to be flooded.Someone on here mentioned about corners being cut to get this thing finished,I hope this is not an example of such a thing.

They will still need to complete some drainage/run-off channels along the roundabout, and of course the new road surface. Was also caught out by a near flooded part past the Benfleet arm, where the surface has depressed in two areas. Luckily I was only doing 20.
Speaking of the roundabout, work now in full swing within the bit between the arms of the A130 and Benfleet. Can't remember what I saw.

The bridge work for Church Road was complete just after midnight sunday/monday. Went through there earlier however, and there's still quite a lot of the thick concrete abutments left of the old bridge, with mangled metal tensions all sticking out. That's still going to take quite a bit of work to get the rest of that removed, possibly some overnight closures, as with the varioguard back in place around the new bridge site there is little room for manoeuvre during the day.

Any inside news on the Tarpots schedule yet ? Without the Tarpots queue it would be so much easier at night.
By the way whilst waiting at the roundabout coming from the old A13 I still see many cars coming from the A13 and turning up the A130 . Do these people not see the signs ot the other cars pulling off onto the slip road? They seem the be the most aggressive of the drivers there and WILL NOT let anyone across, even those going round onto Canvey. Maybe they are embarressed at missing the turnoff.

Still, the end is in sight.......

I have searched high and low for more information on the Tarpots scheme but haven't found anything.

In other (probably not actually) news, the Echo have obtained secret documents from the council which detail the failings of Sadlers Farm, there's a 2 page special in today's copy. Should be hilarious reading if nothing else.

There was an article in last week's Echo saying Tarpots was "nearing completion", with resurfacing work almost done, but seemingly no quotes from ECC. I thought that was strange as it wasn't long before that there was a heck of a lot to do. Well I went down there late last week, and guess what, no resurfacing done at all. Not that I expected it to be done by now, just amused by the Echo who clearly just made the whole thing up. They were still doing the last bits of kerbing back to Homefields Avenue, though at least the realigned footway on the south side was starting to be surfaced, and the new traffic light island was also well advanced. Still a lot to do, and I don't even though if they are going to realign any of the north side of the A13 in parts? If not then the project should not take much longer on that stretch.

Just about to buy the Echo...

I can't work out how they haven't restructured the programme of works slightly, to enable more manpower to focus on some of the parts - like the Tarpots - that need priority.

It's all good arsing around on the Canvey to A13 slip, but what's the use when that section of the road runs fairly smooth and there's hold-ups being caused due to lack of progress elsewhere?

Interested to know what the (not so) secret documents reveal...

The reason for that is the Sadlers Farm and Tarpots projects are being completed by different engineering companies and don't actually work together, hence all the chaos.

I'm guessing the Canvey Way/A13 slip road is being moved slightly to the left, remember they only have 30 days left to get the Roundabout finished....

This just about sums it up...spent 1 hour getting through the "works??" from London last night ...only to stop at the pedestian crossing east of tar pots to see 6 (six) workmen beavering away ...fixing a 5sqm area of pavement in front of "The Friar" chippy.....obviously top priority that one!! health and frikkin safety...or thats where the local council bods get their fish suppers!!

I thought they were supposed to be tarmacing outside my house last night, so they letter we got told us. 17:30 all packed up for the night. Had my ear plugs ready as well.

all bullsh1t...when will these people realise that saying things doesnt actually get the job done...it also messes people around too...next time they want my council tax ,i will say tommorrow and then pay it 3 months later...

Am I right in thhinking they are keeping to the last deadlines ?

Seem so, although wouldnt be surprised if weather caused issues (which lets face it is for once an acceptable reason).

Managed to steer clear of Sadlers for most of last week but no such luck this week !

Not sure if opening the bridge from A13(E) - roundabout is going to make any difference as the traffic will have no where to go and will just tailback ?

Only things I can imagine will really help are:

1. Tarpots congestion to be resolved (why on earth was these done now??)
2. Canvey traffic to get their cut through
3. 3 lanes to be opened on A13 (E)

Then again I thought the underpass opening would have a bigger impact so what do I know....