Roads that should have been dual carriageway

[jervi]

The not yet built A15 Lincoln Eastern Bypass was planned to be dualled but is being built as single carrigeway

Looking at all the plans it has got enough room along the majority of is route for dualing, especially at the bridge. Also the unbuilt section of the dual carriageway (between A46 and A15 South West) is planned on being a dual carriageway.
However the rest of the A15 corridor is single carriageway, so dualing it here is only going to cause more congestion on the rest of the route, which at the moment is fairly poor. *cough* Holdingham Roundabout *cough*

[Berk]

I don’t think Holdingham is that bad, the ones on the bypass (old and new bits) are likely to be more contentious.

But yes, it has been designed to be easily duallable.

[jervi]

I don’t think Holdingham is that bad, the ones on the bypass (old and new bits) are likely to be more contentious.

But yes, it has been designed to be easily duallable.

Yep, the northern bypass is also a very congested bit of road. Hopefully one day (soon) it will be dual carriageway for the whole A46 part of the bypass with maybe a GSJ for the junction with the A15(N)

Regarding Holdingham, they are installing lights at 2 points on the roundabout in July of 2020, which may increase its capacity a little, but at some points it has queues of over 5 minutes on the main routes. A the approach from sleaford can be all the way back past the town centre (I've been in queues for over 35 mins before from that direction). I made some simple sketches of improvements at holdingham, with a budget in mind.

[Berk]

I’d bypass it too. There’s no need for the A15 to stop there, and it makes a significant detour to do so.

Just link it straight up with Leasingham, and sort out some of the bends at the same time. Might as well bypass Osbournby and Aswarby whilst you’re at it.

[Bryn666]

I’d bypass it too. There’s no need for the A15 to stop there, and it makes a significant detour to do so.

Just link it straight up with Leasingham, and sort out some of the bends at the same time. Might as well bypass Osbournby and Aswarby whilst you’re at it.

Are you thinking of the A52 roundabout instead of the A17 one?

There's a good case for the realignment and bypassing on safety grounds though, that stretch of A15 is abysmal.

[Richardf]

The not yet built A15 Lincoln Eastern Bypass was planned to be dualled but is being built as single carrigeway

I would have thought dualling/improving the existing bypass ought to be a bigger priority. It looks a mess.

[Berk]

I’d bypass it too. There’s no need for the A15 to stop there, and it makes a significant detour to do so.

Just link it straight up with Leasingham, and sort out some of the bends at the same time. Might as well bypass Osbournby and Aswarby whilst you’re at it.

Are you thinking of the A52 roundabout instead of the A17 one?

There's a good case for the realignment and bypassing on safety grounds though, that stretch of A15 is abysmal.

No, I did mean Holdingham. It’s such a daft place to put a junction in, especially when you consider the bypass was newly built 25 years ago.

If you realigned the road heading due north-west of Osbournby roundabout, it could cut off both the corner at Aswarby and Holdingham at the same time.

I hate it when planners build a nice, straight road... and then shove a nasty 90° bend in as a tie-in.

[Berk]

The not yet built A15 Lincoln Eastern Bypass was planned to be dualled but is being built as single carrigeway

I would have thought dualling/improving the existing bypass ought to be a bigger priority. It looks a mess.

True, but that is more to do with the fact they dualled the bit between Doddington and Whisby roads about 8 years ago.

It’ll be much better when the bypass is completed (including the southern bit).

[Richardf]

The not yet built A15 Lincoln Eastern Bypass was planned to be dualled but is being built as single carrigeway

I would have thought dualling/improving the existing bypass ought to be a bigger priority. It looks a mess.

True, but that is more to do with the fact they dualled the bit between Doddington and Whisby roads about 8 years ago.

It’ll be much better when the bypass is completed (including the southern bit).

Regardless of the quality Lincoln will at least then have a full circuit of bypass roads which other big towns and cities can only dream of!

[Glenn A]

The A64 from the A1(M) to Scarborough, this should have been done decades ago, but the road is only partially dualled.

[Fenlander]

I hate it when planners build a nice, straight road... and then shove a nasty 90° bend in as a tie-in.

See also new bit of A16 from Spalding heading south where it meets the original A16 Spalding bypass, it’s almost a hairpin join at the roundabout when the more sensible option would have been to have headed north from Cowbit and joined in a straight line with the existing bypass at Clay Lake. At time on the new road you can see the power station 90° to your right even though you’ll be passing it to your left in a few miles.

[skiddaw05]

See also new bit of A16 from Spalding heading south where it meets the original A16 Spalding bypass, it’s almost a hairpin join at the roundabout when the more sensible option would have been to have headed north from Cowbit and joined in a straight line with the existing bypass at Clay Lake. At time on the new road you can see the power station 90° to your right even though you’ll be passing it to your left in a few miles.

The length of new build compared with what was atually built wouldn't have been much longer either. But I can only assume it was done this way to link up with the B1173 from Spalding.

[Berk]

See also new bit of A16 from Spalding heading south where it meets the original A16 Spalding bypass, it’s almost a hairpin join at the roundabout when the more sensible option would have been to have headed north from Cowbit and joined in a straight line with the existing bypass at Clay Lake. At time on the new road you can see the power station 90° to your right even though you’ll be passing it to your left in a few miles.

The length of new build compared with what was atually built wouldn't have been much longer either. But I can only assume it was done this way to link up with the B1173 from Spalding.

But how many bypasses have a link into town along a B-road?? If you wanted a direct link, you’ve got Low Road, or Holbeach Road (A151), which would surely have been better than London Road.

That only made sense in the old days when all the traffic had to come via Deeping and Stamford.

[skiddaw05]

See also new bit of A16 from Spalding heading south where it meets the original A16 Spalding bypass, it’s almost a hairpin join at the roundabout when the more sensible option would have been to have headed north from Cowbit and joined in a straight line with the existing bypass at Clay Lake. At time on the new road you can see the power station 90° to your right even though you’ll be passing it to your left in a few miles.

The length of new build compared with what was atually built wouldn't have been much longer either. But I can only assume it was done this way to link up with the B1173 from Spalding.

But how many bypasses have a link into town along a B-road?? If you wanted a direct link, you’ve got Low Road, or Holbeach Road (A151), which would surely have been better than London Road.

That only made sense in the old days when all the traffic had to come via Deeping and Stamford.

Very true. But, and this is pure speculation, could this layout been done to avoid potential rat-running through Cowbit? I can't think of any other reason not to have a more direct north-south alignment as there doesn't appear to be anything in the way

[Berk]

That doesn’t explain why the road is skewed north-westwards towards the nearest point on the old road. Traffic would still avoid Cowbit either way.

It would’ve been far more logical to make the new A16 route run due north, as that’s where most of the lorries are heading (even if it’s just a mile or two up the road).

If you design in a sharp bend, it follows that mainline traffic will have to stop at the roundabout. And that has an impact on all routes. The predominant flow takes priority, but even then speeds and capacity are reduced.

The Glinton, Werrington, and Deeping bypasses on the nearby A15 are good examples of this. Traffic crawls from one roundabout to the next at every peak hour, snaking it’s way through three bends rather than due northwards.

[skiddaw05]

I'm not defending the layout, it does seem a bit bonkers, just trying to think of any reason why it ended up that way. Maybe the pen slipped.

[jgharston]

Having been using it the past week, the A6195 between the A633 and the B6273 really needs to be dual carriageway.

[jgharston]

The A64 from the A1(M) to Scarborough, this should have been done decades ago, but the road is only partially dualled.

We have an entire thread on that one!

[Berk]

Having been using it the past week, the A6195 between the A633 and the B6273 really needs to be dual carriageway.

I’ve often wondered why Yorkshire has such crap roads. Not because they’re badly designed, but there’s not nearly enough dual about.

Bradford and Leeds have next to no dual carriageway, and that is shocking. Much more important than “urban motorways” that only go in/out in one direction.

[ForestChav]

I’d bypass it too. There’s no need for the A15 to stop there, and it makes a significant detour to do so.

Just link it straight up with Leasingham, and sort out some of the bends at the same time. Might as well bypass Osbournby and Aswarby whilst you’re at it.

Are you thinking of the A52 roundabout instead of the A17 one?

There's a good case for the realignment and bypassing on safety grounds though, that stretch of A15 is abysmal.

Agreed, the whole A15 between Peterborough and Lincoln is absolutely shocking, I know F99s don't imply a standard but the number is deceptive in terms of how terrible it really is.