Pointless motorway overhead messages

[Big L]

M6 northbound on Monday morning, in the roadworks section south of J15.

'Queue Caution' and a 50 advisory.

All fine, except that it's a 50 limit there due to the roadworks. And I hadn't been above 2nd gear for 10 minutes.

[Bendo]

On Saturday night / Sunday morning driving North on the M5, many of the VMSs are displaying M6 closed J13 to J14.

Somewhere around J9 there was a set of 3 that were showing

M6 closed J13 to J14. 50 with bouncing balls
M6 closed J13 to J14. 30 with bouncing balls
M6 closed J13 to J14. End.

[Moore_O]

Another post complaining that the Motorway Overhead Message you actually WANT to see - in this case warning me that the QE2 Bridge was going to be closed overnight on successive Saturdays - is completely and utterly absent, meaning that we sat in miles of stationary traffic while four lanes (plus the two lanes from the Lakeside slip roads) filtered down to one so we could go through the tunnel (which was virtually empty).

This weekend we made sure we were early, so we saw the sign which I presume notified the public. It was a tiny yellow board propped up against a crash barrier near the hard shoulder. I managed to read a word which looked a bit like 'CLOSED' as I drove past - luckily there wasn't a lorry in the way.

I did try to find the information online - it would be useful to know for next Saturday - but without success. There should be a way of finding out, shouldn't there?

[WHBM]

Likewise, the M4 inward to London from J3 is regularly closed overnight on a rota basis for maintenance. There is never any VMS signage about this before the actual closure, which can add an hour to journeys, including a long queue down to the roundabout at J3, plus further queueing along the diversion route. Advice before the M25 would make it so easy to divert via either the A40 or the A316. It's particularly galling if leaving Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 to go north up the spur, only to find queueing on the M4 and back down the A316, to end up virtually within sight of where you were more than 30 minutes beforehand.

[Moore_O]

Yeah - The conversation in my head was along the lines of 'why couldn't they TELL me the bridge was closed?'

I reasoned the answer was 'what - so I could trail into town and use the Blackwall Tunnel and be in a massive traffic jam there at midnight instead?'

Alternatively, if I'd known the bridge was closed I could have made sure I left Huntingdon early enough to be in Kent before it happened. I was already perfectly aware the world doesn't actually revolve around my needs...

The VMS signs instead had messages about tourists using the M2 (also closed at Jct 5, as it happens), and freight using the M20 for Dover.

And I STILL can't find official notice online for bridge closures.

[ManomayLR]

Unless it's way off, I would use M1, even for Stansted and the like. The reason being that we can sail down the ALR on the M1 and then sail down the ALR on the M25 instead of negotiating A roads which is painful.

While I knew that you liked looking at matrix signs, you must really like them if you're willing to significantly extend your journey time so you can experience a very unreliable M25 instead of an unreliable A14.

Most of the M1 is now so-called 'smart' motorway. I've seen at least five cars get zapped by the new-style speed cameras in the past few weeks, and on a couple of occasions I'm sure it happened when the variable speed limit function was switched to NSL. One even zapped me when I was coasting at about 63 when the signs showed 60 (although I haven't received a ticket).

There are no speed cameras on either the A1, A1(M), or the M11.

I don’t get “so-called”. Smart motorways are smart motorways and they DO ease congestion. I’ve been on the M1 so much and most of the time it’s a long drive from J6 to the end. Recently congested areas of classic motorway with a smart stretch in the middle have maroon (queueing) traffic all the way up to the start of the smart motorway and then free flow through the ALR, only to be hit by delays again as soon as you pass the sign “Variable speed limit ends”.

[lefthandedspanner]

Seen on the M1 this morning:

Code: Select all

A628 DELAYS
AFTER A6024

In other words, delays on the Woodhead pass, after the junction with the road to Holmfirth. It wasn't so much the message itself that was pointless as where it was displayed - on the first VMS southbound after the exit for the A628.

[ManomayLR]

Seen on the M1 this morning:

Code: Select all

A628 DELAYS
AFTER A6024

In other words, delays on the Woodhead pass, after the junction with the road to Holmfirth. It wasn't so much the message itself that was pointless as where it was displayed - on the first VMS southbound after the exit for the A628.

They probably wanted to put it on the northbound carriageway but put it southbound by mistake. Maybe someone who just started working in the UK from a country where you drive on the right hand side of the road.

[lefthandedspanner]

As of Monday, the primary A637 through Flockton in West Yorkshire will be closed to through traffic for a month, including all the traffic that uses it to cut the corner between the M1 and the M62 near Brighouse. To the credit of the highways authorities involved, a number of very conspicuous notices, including mobile VMSs, were placed on a multitude of sites several weeks in advance of the closure, including all the main roads in Huddersfield town centre, the approaches to the A636/A637 roundabout near West Bretton, and on the M1 just before the northbound exit at junction 38 - so frequent users of that route (like me) were very well informed.

However, one VMS that could have been better sited is on Wakefield Road heading into Huddersfield town centre, and it reads something like "A637 B'SLEY RD FLOCKTON CLOSED USE DIVERSION". At this point Flockton is directly behind you; if you were planning to go that way you'd have to u-turn and drive about six miles in the exact opposite direction.

[ManomayLR]

As of Monday, the primary A637 through Flockton in West Yorkshire will be closed to through traffic for a month, including all the traffic that uses it to cut the corner between the M1 and the M62 near Brighouse. To the credit of the highways authorities involved, a number of very conspicuous notices, including mobile VMSs, were placed on a multitude of sites several weeks in advance of the closure, including all the main roads in Huddersfield town centre, the approaches to the A636/A637 roundabout near West Bretton, and on the M1 just before the northbound exit at junction 38 - so frequent users of that route (like me) were very well informed.

However, one VMS that could have been better sited is on Wakefield Road heading into Huddersfield town centre, and it reads something like "A637 B'SLEY RD FLOCKTON CLOSED USE DIVERSION". At this point Flockton is directly behind you; if you were planning to go that way you'd have to u-turn and drive about six miles in the exact opposite direction.

I never get why they would use a mobile VMS on a motorway when they could use a permanent one.

[DB617]

As of Monday, the primary A637 through Flockton in West Yorkshire will be closed to through traffic for a month, including all the traffic that uses it to cut the corner between the M1 and the M62 near Brighouse. To the credit of the highways authorities involved, a number of very conspicuous notices, including mobile VMSs, were placed on a multitude of sites several weeks in advance of the closure, including all the main roads in Huddersfield town centre, the approaches to the A636/A637 roundabout near West Bretton, and on the M1 just before the northbound exit at junction 38 - so frequent users of that route (like me) were very well informed.

However, one VMS that could have been better sited is on Wakefield Road heading into Huddersfield town centre, and it reads something like "A637 B'SLEY RD FLOCKTON CLOSED USE DIVERSION". At this point Flockton is directly behind you; if you were planning to go that way you'd have to u-turn and drive about six miles in the exact opposite direction.

I never get why they would use a mobile VMS on a motorway when they could use a permanent one.

If an emergency occurs, the permanent message is overwritten by the emergency message, meaning the effect is kind of lost for a while leading to a lot of misled dummies getting stuck in the sticks, as it were, around the closure.

[Big L]

Context: A42 closed today at Ashby de la Zouch. Message signs all down the M1 from at least Sheffield saying so. I don't recall any suggesting a diversion route, but I did tune them out after a while (but the Traffic England site is showing them up now). Anyway...

Half way down the M69 :

SignCapture240818.JPG (22.02 KiB) Viewed 2020 times

[Matthew]

If it's midway down the M69 and the diversion is via that, not the A5, then the legend is legitimate.

[darkcape]

That message was on display approaching J21, they're normally quite good when the A42/M42 is shut. Not sure if it was displayed approaching J23a as the gantries may be off due to the roadworks

[Arcuarius]

Always fun being on the M1 at 8:30pm when the MS4s indicate a filter down to a single lane (why three lanes need to be closed I don't know) and 40mph limit... and absolutely nothing going on!

I wouldn't mind but there wasn't even so much as a TM vehicle putting cones out last night.

[trickstat]

OK so it's not actually overhead and it isn't really pointless because it is an important strategic route for certain journeys, but I was surprised to see signs by the M11 northbound just north of the M25 junction today about closures of the A66. Must be about 200 miles from Scotch Corner.

[Matthew]

The A66 is closed across the weekend so it's signed quite widely.

[crb11]

OK so it's not actually overhead and it isn't really pointless because it is an important strategic route for certain journeys, but I was surprised to see signs by the M11 northbound just north of the M25 junction today about closures of the A66. Must be about 200 miles from Scotch Corner.

Seems useful to me, as I'd expect the quickest diversionary route for someone trying to get to Carlisle and Scotland by this route would to be to U turn at the next junction and head along the M25 to the M1.

[Ronnie]

CAUTION PEDESTRIANS displayed on all VMS all the way from the M80 Bishopbriggs junction to Haggs junction at 0600 this morning. Needless to say no pedestrians or police apparent and traffic doing 70mph+

[Johnathan404]

Context: A42 closed today at Ashby de la Zouch. Message signs all down the M1 from at least Sheffield saying so. I don't recall any suggesting a diversion route, but I did tune them out after a while (but the Traffic England site is showing them up now). Anyway...

Half way down the M69 :
SignCapture240818.JPG

It’s telling people to continue straight on. The only issue here is UK motorway fork signs don’t tell people which road is ahead!