Pointless motorway overhead messages

[ManomayLR]

To be fair, fantasy renumbering or not, it does show just how rubbish it is not to have any form of communication between the home nations on stuff like this. Times to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dumfries instead of Gretna would be infinitely more useful to the people who these signs are aimed at - the everyday motorist.

Oh I totally agree. Many times I've driven back from Swansea in the evening and have had to ask myself, 'I wonder if the M4 in England is open?'. You don't get to find out until you're across the bridge, and while there's not a lot a lot you can do about it, it's an unpleasant surprise to find yourself diverted down the M49.

Many times on SABRE we have debated the benefits of avoiding the Severn Bridge tolls. If you were warned about disruption on the Welsh M4, that could make your decision for you.

It causes inconveniences. The blank MS4s a mile before an "about-to-be-congested" M4 is downright silly just cus the congestion starts across the border. Many thanks to the division between different highways authorities for making things a pain for us! What we need to look at now is trying to enforce that - if there's absolutely ANYONE who can help, come forward!

[B4444]

M27 eastbound J5 'Salt spreading. End'. Well it was 10degC!
Perhaps slightly more relevant than the yellow 'temporary' sign at the entrance to the south on slip J7 M3, which states the road will be 'closed on 28th January'. I've emailed HE.

[growler74]

Last week, when we had the snow up here, this sign on the A1(M) https://goo.gl/maps/migR76m3zkK2 was showing QU T SPREADING. I think someone must have been fed up with the extra shifts being put in!

[Johnathan404]

It's not unheard of for signs to break and try to display two messages ("QUEUE AHEAD" and "SALT SPREADING").

[frediculous_biggs]

It causes inconveniences. The blank MS4s a mile before an "about-to-be-congested" M4 is downright silly just cus the congestion starts across the border. Many thanks to the division between different highways authorities for making things a pain for us! What we need to look at now is trying to enforce that - if there's absolutely ANYONE who can help, come forward!

How is this handled in continental Europe? For example when heading towards a border is the information displayed only for the section up to the border?

[Johnathan404]

In general I find that the messages have become much more useful in the five years. As a result I will cut the signs some slack when they are slow to adapt.

But one that was 'pointless' by definition was tonight on the A27; the message 'A27 CLOSED AFTER A2030' was displayed on the gantry which coves the A2030 on-slip.

I'm not bothered that the sign was technically wrong: it was 9pm and the cones were about to go out. I'm bothered/amused that this sign was placed on the road that was supposedly closed!

[BOH]

There is always one on the westbound M27 near to junction 2 and 3 that at around 5pm every weekday is displaying:

"Exeter, 2 hours 5 minutes"

This repeatedly baffles me as there is no way it could be done in that time at that time of day when taking into account the A31 rush hour queues to get past Ringwood, then the usual Ferndown / Wimborne bypass queues. When past there, if you then add in the poor state of the 30-35 or so miles of A35 west of Dorchester to Honiton I reckon it would take around 3 hours minimum at that time of day..

[Matthew]

There is always one on the westbound M27 near to junction 2 and 3 that at around 5pm every weekday is displaying:

"Exeter, 2 hours 5 minutes"

This repeatedly baffles me as there is no way it could be done in that time at that time of day when taking into account the A31 rush hour queues to get past Ringwood, then the usual Ferndown / Wimborne bypass queues. When past there, if you then add in the poor state of the 30-35 or so miles of A35 west of Dorchester to Honiton I reckon it would take around 3 hours minimum at that time of day..

It has shown 2:30 of recent. I think the range of 1:50 to 2:30 isn't unreasonable at all.

[andrewwoods]

There is always one on the westbound M27 near to junction 2 and 3 that at around 5pm every weekday is displaying:

"Exeter, 2 hours 5 minutes"

This repeatedly baffles me as there is no way it could be done in that time at that time of day when taking into account the A31 rush hour queues to get past Ringwood, then the usual Ferndown / Wimborne bypass queues. When past there, if you then add in the poor state of the 30-35 or so miles of A35 west of Dorchester to Honiton I reckon it would take around 3 hours minimum at that time of day..

It has shown 2:30 of recent. I think the range of 1:50 to 2:30 isn't unreasonable at all.

I agree - it's actually useful to me when I'm heading home to Poole. If it says less than 2 hours then the road's OK. Just over 2 hours and there's a queue on the A31 at Ringwood, but it'll be OK. Any more than that and I'll be onto the back roads through the forest.

Andrew

[BOH]

There is always one on the westbound M27 near to junction 2 and 3 that at around 5pm every weekday is displaying:

"Exeter, 2 hours 5 minutes"

This repeatedly baffles me as there is no way it could be done in that time at that time of day when taking into account the A31 rush hour queues to get past Ringwood, then the usual Ferndown / Wimborne bypass queues. When past there, if you then add in the poor state of the 30-35 or so miles of A35 west of Dorchester to Honiton I reckon it would take around 3 hours minimum at that time of day..

It has shown 2:30 of recent. I think the range of 1:50 to 2:30 isn't unreasonable at all.

Hadn't realised it was varaiable - only ever seen 2:05 at around 4-5pm. I would suggest even 2:30 is pushing it at rush hour as it can easily take over an hour from M27 junc 3 to the other side of Wimborne at that time of day. The next section to Dorchester is relatively quick but then it all slows up to get around Dorchester....then there is the worst 35 mile section of mainly single carriageway, steep hills, villages (Chideock!) with many HGVs on their evening routes. Once on the A30 at Honiton it is 15 minutes to the M5 junction, plus another 10 minutes from there to get into Exeter City Centre - by then it will be about 6:30-7pm pm so after the evening peak.

I have done this route many times as I live just west of Ringwood and it is easily well over 2 hours from there to get into Exeter City Centre at that time of day. So the M27 sign some 20 miles back to the east of Ringwood even saying 2:30 as an extreme is very optimistic IMHO. It takes circa 15-20 minutes just to get from the top of Poulner Hill to the other side of Ringwood at evening rush hour!

So more realistic is 2:30 as a minimum during non-rush hour conditions (say after 7pm) but 3 hours after 4pm

[Johnathan404]

The prediction is based on real data so there is always a risk at the start of rush hour that one vehicle will go through and have a clear run but the next one (you) will hit all the traffic.

[Big L]

BOH. You're reading it wrong. At 5pm is says Exeter 2:30 it means 2:30 am, clearly !

[mikehindsonevans]

M27 eastbound J5 'Salt spreading. End'. Well it was 10degC!
Perhaps slightly more relevant than the yellow 'temporary' sign at the entrance to the south on slip J7 M3, which states the road will be 'closed on 28th January'. I've emailed HE.

Did anyone reply? They overachieved this J7 closure last night (Thursday 15th) - the M3 S/B from J7 was *still* closed at morning rush-hour ("over-running engineering works") throwing all southbound traffic along the W/B A303 to Bullington, then down the A34 s/b to WInnall/M3J9, which is why the A34 s/b was predictably still stuffed at 0945hrs.

[WHBM]

All around east London, on all dual carriageways and motorways, for the last week or two every VMS has been displaying 24x7 :

ROTHERHITHE TUNNEL
6'6" WIDTH RESTRICTION

Now the Rotherhithe tunnel has been there for 100 years, and in 2012 6'6" width restrictors were built at its entrances. Nothing has changed in the last 6 years. The signs are even displayed on the Northbound A406 past Ilford leading away from the tunnel.

[dazzyc1970]

All around east London, on all dual carriageways and motorways, for the last week or two every VMS has been displaying 24x7 :

ROTHERHITHE TUNNEL
6'6" WIDTH RESTRICTION

Now the Rotherhithe tunnel has been there for 100 years, and in 2012 6'6" width restrictors were built at its entrances. Nothing has changed in the last 6 years. The signs are even displayed onparnetly the Northbound A406 past Ilford leading away from the tunnel.

Apparently TfL will be enforcing this width restriction with fines shortly according to a letter our transport manager received from them, as you could still get through the width restriction in a Luton van if you folded in one of the wing mirrors.

[B4444]

Another 'is it really necessary?'. Today, presumably because of the snow, signs M3 southbound from the M25 were displaying 'LEGOLAND closed'.

[Johnathan404]

Another 'is it really necessary?'. Today, presumably because of the snow, signs M3 southbound from the M25 were displaying 'LEGOLAND closed'.

Definitely necessary. Significant numbers heading for the attraction on the weekend can be removed from the road (and out of your way!) once they realise their journey is pointless. What's more, we all get annoyed when we get to our destination only to find it's closed, more so if we've come a long way. So if you have the spare sign and you know people are heading that way why wouldn't you?

You're not the type-of person who would watch somebody wait for the bus when you know it's not running, are you?

[B4444]

I just thought, considering the conditions, people might have checked the LEGOLAND web site before travelling. Maybe not. An observation about telling people a bus* won't be coming, is that when I've tried it, half believed me, and half stayed put!
*The bus in question was a recent non-departure of HMS Queen Elizabeth!

[mfmman]

Not pointless but on the M4 westbound at J16 today

M4 J19 50 mins

M4 J20 50 mins

I wondered if there was a flaw in the space/time continuum on this part of the M4, but I came off at junction 18 so will never know

[Big L]

M6 northbound just before junction 14 "Time to junction 15 12 minutes, junction 16 20 minutes."

What's wrong with that I hear you all say.

The sign immediately before it, and probably 10 or more others going back in to Birmingham, that said "M6 closed junction 15-16".