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Ronnie wrote:Supposedly it's to "manage driver distraction" but that just smacks of the typical nanny state micromanagement we're used to from the ScotsNastyParty up here. It should of been 70 from day 1
The 40 limit is not a political decision but one made by the engineers responsible for the safe operation of the network.
Please don't use the bridge though, if that chip falls off your shoulder it'll block the road.
Education makes the wise slightly wiser, but it makes the fool vastly more dangerous. N. Taleb We tend to demand impossible standards of proof from our opponents but accept any old rubbish to support our beliefs. The human paradox that is common sense The Backfire Effect
sheeldz wrote:Big fan of the news that has been drummed up in response to a slow opening week - there are "calls", according to the tabloids, for the Forth Road Bridge to be "reopened".
There is of course one glaring error there, it is still open, to pedestrians and cycles. And the access roads are currently dug up but apart from that, a great idea. (Alex Cole Hamilton the MSP behind this isn't the sharpest)
It could be opened as non free flow and only to vehicles below 7.5 tonnes, with the left lane each way a bus lane. That would solve the M90 'Queensferry gap'!
The B8000, I think it is, wwould need east facing slips to the A90 and west facing slips to the A9000. At the north end the A 9000 would meet the first junction with the M90 north of the Forth at the roundabout anyway.
They also need to get shot of the 40MPH temporary speed limit, the road is complete! The works zone on the old bits of road is far enough away not to matter.
Ronnie wrote:Supposedly it's to "manage driver distraction" but that just smacks of the typical nanny state micromanagement we're used to from the ScotsNastyParty up here. It should of been 70 from day 1
The 40 limit is not a political decision but one made by the engineers responsible for the safe operation of the network.
Please don't use the bridge though, if that chip falls off your shoulder it'll block the road.
Apparently drivers will take weeks 'to get used to it'...
Ronnie wrote:Supposedly it's to "manage driver distraction" but that just smacks of the typical nanny state micromanagement we're used to from the ScotsNastyParty up here. It should of been 70 from day 1
The 40 limit is not a political decision but one made by the engineers responsible for the safe operation of the network.
Please don't use the bridge though, if that chip falls off your shoulder it'll block the road.
Apparently drivers will take weeks 'to get used to it'...
As if! I drove across the bridge to Edinburgh and back today and it's just normal levels of traffic now too, no sight seers just there to drive the bridge as a novelty now.
Maybe the 70 limit will help things a bit but I get the feeling the smart motorway may slow things down unnecessarily. The road was quiet and free flowing northbound when I drove over it last week with the gantries slowing everything to 50 at the end of the works due to congestion southbound - not very smart in my opinion.
DJMS wrote:Maybe the 70 limit will help things a bit but I get the feeling the smart motorway may slow things down unnecessarily. The road was quiet and free flowing northbound when I drove over it last week with the gantries slowing everything to 50 at the end of the works due to congestion southbound - not very smart in my opinion.
True! 50MPH when congestion the other way? That's just silly.
DJMS wrote:Maybe the 70 limit will help things a bit but I get the feeling the smart motorway may slow things down unnecessarily. The road was quiet and free flowing northbound when I drove over it last week with the gantries slowing everything to 50 at the end of the works due to congestion southbound - not very smart in my opinion.
ITS isn't fully operational yet, vast majority of gantries are under test still
DJMS wrote:Maybe the 70 limit will help things a bit but I get the feeling the smart motorway may slow things down unnecessarily. The road was quiet and free flowing northbound when I drove over it last week with the gantries slowing everything to 50 at the end of the works due to congestion southbound - not very smart in my opinion.
ITS isn't fully operational yet, vast majority of gantries are under test still
If they are under test then temporary signs saying ignore gantry matrix signs until further notice and allow 70mph through that section.
It amuses me that the problems of crossing the Forth at Queensferry are only coming to light now. For the last few years, I've been actively avoiding the Forth Road Bridge due to the traffic issues there. I also predicted that as soon as people realised the Queensferry Crossing wasn't going to help alleviate the traffic that the backlash against the project would be huge. I wasn't wrong.
Road surface ?
I rode on the southern approach today and was surprised at the lack of smoothness to the road surface, to the point I thought there was a problem with one of my tyres.
I later rode the new surface on the A1 at Catterick which was smooth and a complete contrast.
doebag wrote:Road surface ?
I rode on the southern approach today and was surprised at the lack of smoothness to the road surface, to the point I thought there was a problem with one of my tyres.
I later rode the new surface on the A1 at Catterick which was smooth and a complete contrast.
I'm reserving judgement until I can get over it at 70mph in VXR mode, and count how many fillings I've lost
doebag wrote:Road surface ?
I rode on the southern approach today and was surprised at the lack of smoothness to the road surface, to the point I thought there was a problem with one of my tyres.
I later rode the new surface on the A1 at Catterick which was smooth and a complete contrast.
That was something I noticed too; obviously not as bad as the FRB but could definitely feel some thumps (corresponding to different sections of tarmac) and a general roughness both on the bridge and on the new stretch from Scotstoun.
I have to say I didn't notice any thumps in my clio this morning when I joined the southbound special road from the A904 - that whole lane that is essentially a TOTSO on its way to the A90 was nice and smooth
"I see the face of a child. He lives in a great city. He is black. Or he is white. He is Mexican, Italian, Polish. None of that matters. What matters, he's an American child"
- Richard Nixon
I crossed it in both directions as a passenger in a van on Tuesday, looks very impressive. I will be driving it when I head on my Wales and Peak District road trip in 10 days, which will be interesting.
Edinburgh always seems bad for this. There are entry slips on the A720 with very long merges, where nearly everyone trys to join at the tip of the chevrons, which results in congestion on the main carriageway.
Edinburgh always seems bad for this. There are entry slips on the A720 with very long merges, where nearly everyone trys to join at the tip of the chevrons, which results in congestion on the main carriageway.
Isn't the problem less on the mainline (traffic has to merge anyway, 200 yards wont make a huge difference), but that the queue backs up the slip-road on to the roundabout causing problems for other traffic. I find 1/1 merging just before the end of the sliproad (or lane closure) works when traffic is slow <10mph, if free flowing merging ASAP is often better.
Gav wrote:Sunday one o'clock and its queues galore on the northbound approach....
moving but very slow indeed. needs to be sorted, needs to have a higher limit and get the traffic flowing
I agree that the Queensferry Crossing should have been D3M, but would a higher speed limit really improve anything, there are Variable Speed Limits back to Halbeath on the M90 so traffic can be gradually slowed? I thought that slightly lower speed limits (essentially down to HGV limit as it removes speed differences) actually increased capacity, albeit marginally.
Maybe the FRB opening for buses and taxis will help a bit, if not then consider making it a HOV lane, or allowing residents of North and South Queensferry to register their cars as permitted vehicles on the FRB.