Upgrading the A66 and A69

[jackal]

Hmm, from a sure thing ready to start work - it's now been kicked into the long grass?

As discussed in this thread there were complaints about the changes to local access so they've decided a consultation is required. I don't expect it to be a huge delay, just a bit more of a formal process than for Bridge End (which really has been lightning quick in GSJ terms).

[IanRB]

Regardless of the delays to these two junction upgrades the average speed camera zones west of Hexham look to be complete and ready for switch on.

[Glenn A]

Good news and it will make a difference. Of course, the design of the Bridge End roundabout was intended for the A69 to go underneath, but the recession in the mid seventies probably saw this cancelled on cost grounds.
Also I did read on the A66, the staggered junction near Brigham is to be replaced by a roundabout.

[Paul7755]

Progress report
We have now completed the cabling and services diversions and additional investigation work which alongside not wishing to cause disruption over the Christmas period has delayed us starting to build the temporary turnings. We have worked with our contractors to realign the programme and we are confident we can still achieve the opening of the junction by March 2021.

What's next?
From the last week in January we are starting work on the roundabout and will be using overnight lane closures to allow us to install the traffic management. We can then set up the works area in the centre of the roundabout and start working on the construction of the turn-arounds and the mainline carriageway.

During this period the roundabout will remain open with some lane closures and speed restrictions on approach. Two lanes will be used to approach the roundabout from Newcastle, with one lane dedicated to turning into Hexham and the other for turning right or through-traffic. There will also be two lanes approaching the roundabout from Carlisle towards Hexham, with one dedicated to turning right towards Hexham and the other for through-traffic.

We expect the turnarounds to be completed in summer 2020 when they will come into operation.

Once work on Bridge End is started we'll revisit plans for the Styford roundabout, presenting options we develop to the public for consultation.

https://highwaysengland.co.uk/projects/ ... rovements/

I had to read this a few times to follow what they were on about.
The three different terms mentioned in the quoted text, ie “temporary turnings”, “turn-arounds”, and “turnarounds” are all the same thing, yes? How do they usually refer to temporary elongation of a roundabout while they install bridges, I don’t recall these words coming up before...

Also had to do a double take reading the HA website where they’ve presumably used an image of the eventual Styford Junction in a spiel which is all about what they are doing now at Bridge End...

Paul

[mbeatts]

Interserve construction will be carrying out the work on the A69.

[solocle]

The main issues for motorised users appear to be drivers of light high sided vans falling off the road in high winds, localised flooding in bad weather, and the unexpected twisty section between Warcop and Bowes. for non motorised users, I don't think I'd fancy accessing the bus stop at Kirkby Thore if I was elderly. And the Appleby show always cases tailbacks with idiots in horses and carts thinking it appropriate to use the A66 at night... There really needs to be better nmu provision on the route....

I had to ride up the section just after Penrith to get to Whinfell Forest - it was pretty grim as an NMU. I have to say, it wasn't quite the same hell as the A34, but it was getting there... turning right was especially fun! (I think I grabbed the draft of a passing lorry to get a boost to 30 mph).

[KeithW]

The main issues for motorised users appear to be drivers of light high sided vans falling off the road in high winds, localised flooding in bad weather, and the unexpected twisty section between Warcop and Bowes. for non motorised users, I don't think I'd fancy accessing the bus stop at Kirkby Thore if I was elderly. And the Appleby show always cases tailbacks with idiots in horses and carts thinking it appropriate to use the A66 at night... There really needs to be better nmu provision on the route....

I had to ride up the section just after Penrith to get to Whinfell Forest - it was pretty grim as an NMU. I have to say, it wasn't quite the same hell as the A34, but it was getting there... turning right was especially fun! (I think I grabbed the draft of a passing lorry to get a boost to 30 mph).

Watch this space - the latest proposals may be found here. Page 14 may be of special interest.
https://highwaysengland.citizenspace.co ... ochure.pdf

[Glenn A]

I always considered it odd when Temple Sowerby was by passed, why High Barn and Kirby Thore weren't included in the plan.

[KeithW]

I always considered it odd when Temple Sowerby was by passed, why High Barn and Kirby Thore weren't included in the plan.

The short answer is money. Most of the improvements on the A66 have been piecemeal - dates are shown here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A66_road

You should have driven it when the whole thing was D2, this old section over Bowes moor gives a flavour.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.51439 ... 56!5m1!1e4

Or this section through Greta Bridge.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.51420 ... 56!5m1!1e4

[Achmelvic]

The short answer is money. Most of the improvements on the A66 have been piecemeal - dates are shown here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A66_road

It's always fun when you see your work quoted, I started that table of dualed sections on Wikipedia nearly 15 years ago!

[KeithW]

The short answer is money. Most of the improvements on the A66 have been piecemeal - dates are shown here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A66_road

It's always fun when you see your work quoted, I started that table of dualed sections on Wikipedia nearly 15 years ago!

I remember all of the old sections having ridden my BSA Bantam back from Ullswater in 1969 in the pouring rain - the things you do as a 17 year old The biggie was Bowes Moor that was a truly scary road.

[solocle]

The short answer is money. Most of the improvements on the A66 have been piecemeal - dates are shown here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A66_road

It's always fun when you see your work quoted, I started that table of dualed sections on Wikipedia nearly 15 years ago!

I remember all of the old sections having ridden my BSA Bantam back from Ullswater in 1969 in the pouring rain - the things you do as a 17 year old The biggie was Bowes Moor that was a truly scary road.

Here was my route... past Ullswater, but nowhere near as far on the A66.

[Bryn666]

I always considered it odd when Temple Sowerby was by passed, why High Barn and Kirby Thore weren't included in the plan.

The short answer is money. Most of the improvements on the A66 have been piecemeal - dates are shown here.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A66_road

You should have driven it when the whole thing was D2, this old section over Bowes moor gives a flavour.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.51439 ... 56!5m1!1e4

Or this section through Greta Bridge.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.51420 ... 56!5m1!1e4

Very nice fat blue bordered old signs in that Bowes moor link. Still a signage museum up on the moors I see.

[Truvelo]

Very nice fat blue bordered old signs in that Bowes moor link. Still a signage museum up on the moors I see.

The top of the sign has a thin border. At first I thought it was due to poor stitching of the images by Google but then I checked the 2009 imagery and it's exactly the same.

https://goo.gl/maps/41ruFZr4LVuCWmKn6

[Bryn666]

Very nice fat blue bordered old signs in that Bowes moor link. Still a signage museum up on the moors I see.

The top of the sign has a thin border. At first I thought it was due to poor stitching of the images by Google but then I checked the 2009 imagery and it's exactly the same.

https://goo.gl/maps/41ruFZr4LVuCWmKn6

Highly probably the sign has been cut - if it predates the A66 being dualled for instance.

[KeithW]

Very nice fat blue bordered old signs in that Bowes moor link. Still a signage museum up on the moors I see.

The top of the sign has a thin border. At first I thought it was due to poor stitching of the images by Google but then I checked the 2009 imagery and it's exactly the same.

https://goo.gl/maps/41ruFZr4LVuCWmKn6

Highly probably the sign has been cut - if it predates the A66 being dualled for instance.

It almost certainly does, the section was dualled in 1993 and the sign is on the old S2 alignment.

[Bryn666]

The top of the sign has a thin border. At first I thought it was due to poor stitching of the images by Google but then I checked the 2009 imagery and it's exactly the same.

https://goo.gl/maps/41ruFZr4LVuCWmKn6

Highly probably the sign has been cut - if it predates the A66 being dualled for instance.

It almost certainly does, the section was dualled in 1993 and the sign is on the old S2 alignment.

I would never have thought Bowes Moor was that recent. I could have sworn it was an late 70s/early 80s job given how it was done. That's truly staggering.

[owen b]

Highly probably the sign has been cut - if it predates the A66 being dualled for instance.

It almost certainly does, the section was dualled in 1993 and the sign is on the old S2 alignment.

I would never have thought Bowes Moor was that recent. I could have sworn it was an late 70s/early 80s job given how it was done. That's truly staggering.

That stretch was part of a roughly two mile stretch that was dualled in about 1980, from the county boundary westwards. It's shown as dualled on my 1984 Collins road atlas and I have vague memories of being on a coach on a day out on a school trip going through the roadworks section. The rest of the Bowes Moor and Stainmore sections were dualled in the 1990s though.

[Bryn666]

Yes I've just dug out a 1989 Readers Digest. Still staggered. What took so long?

It explains the stupid, and I mean lethally stupid, "escape" lane on the A685 exit slip road though. 1990s cheapness.

[owen b]

Yes I've just dug out a 1989 Readers Digest. Still staggered. What took so long?

It explains the stupid, and I mean lethally stupid, "escape" lane on the A685 exit slip road though. 1990s cheapness.

I presume that once they'd bypassed the main bottlenecks and dualled the steeper western side of the main escarpment to the watershed the traffic volume wasn't sufficient to justify dualling the remaining relatively well aligned sections.