M5 Oldbury viaduct works

[Chris Bertram]

For the benefit of anyone who hasn't driven through - this is the NB signage currently at J4A. All the forward destinations on the M5 have been patched over.

Screen Shot 2017-08-19 at 17.49.26.png

That's also a good shot of the coned-off lane 4, which has been given signage appropriate to road works, though there is no work happening at all. It's a fake lane closure, and brings traffic management into contempt.

[Bryn666]

For the benefit of anyone who hasn't driven through - this is the NB signage currently at J4A. All the forward destinations on the M5 have been patched over.

Screen Shot 2017-08-19 at 17.49.26.png

Surprisingly tidy for temporary works.

Still utterly stupid though.

[Johnathan404]

Firstly, that's a surprisingly good job for a temporary sign!

As a layout, I don't see any difference between this and the M23 having a lane hatched out as it crosses the M25. The road ahead is not able to carry anything more than local traffic.

Whether it was hoped that enough traffic would voluntarily take the M42 that the single lane would be fine or that the inevitable delays would be punishment for those who didn't, I don't know. Either way I'm not endorsing the disruption it has caused.

[brummie_rob]

The same patch jobs have been done on the M6 as you approach J8. The difference is the last sign to the M5 is yellow to signify the roadworks which stands out better.

Traffic seems to be moving better through the contra-flow now but the big test will be when the kids go back.

[Big L]

I came off the M42 onto the northbound M5 this afternoon, and I am still hugely confused why there needs to be a speed limit there. The M5 through the junction stays at 2 lanes from the M42 diverge, and the slip off the M42 is a lane gain. This is probably a safer road layout than was ever there before, but has a 50 limit with average cameras.

Continue up to junction 3 of the M5 and there is again a lane drop and lane gain, but this time at full 70 limit.

[vlad]

It seems strange how little these works are advertised from the M40 direction.

I may have missed something but I only remember seeing one sign about the roadworks. Given that the VMS giving times to Ray Hall showed it would only take about 10 minutes extra via the M5, that could certainly be an option if you fancied driving via a service station, especially given the infamous bunny ears sign didn't mention the M6 at all....

[Big L]

... the infamous bunny ears sign didn't mention the M6 at all....

There are moveable* prisms on the overhead gantry for the M6, so no M6 on the painted sign.

*or not.

[M4 Cardiff]

I came off the M42 onto the northbound M5 this afternoon, and I am still hugely confused why there needs to be a speed limit there. The M5 through the junction stays at 2 lanes from the M42 diverge, and the slip off the M42 is a lane gain. This is probably a safer road layout than was ever there before, but has a 50 limit with average cameras.

Continue up to junction 3 of the M5 and there is again a lane drop and lane gain, but this time at full 70 limit.

I would guess the 50 is there because with the layout behaving like a right hand off slip at the moment there will be hgvs in the right lane.

But yes the layout is botched because it punishes traffic using the m42 as well. Or is this simply because 3 into 2 won't go?

[Big L]

I would guess the 50 is there because with the layout behaving like a right hand off slip at the moment there will be hgvs in the right lane.

That makes some sense*, but why does the 50 need to stretch as far as it does. 50 at the diverge could be done with the shiny new variable limits they have just spent ages installing.

*What does the law say about HGVs being in lane 4 when you are close to a diverge? Is it treated as if it is already two separate two-lane carriageways that just happen to be side-by-side on the same bit of tarmac?

[Bryn666]

Whilst I wouldn't test it in court as there are variable designs across the UK, I'd say the length marked by Dia. 1010 (the short dashed line for diverges and merges) is treated as two parallel carriageways.

[vlad]

... the infamous bunny ears sign didn't mention the M6 at all....

There are moveable* prisms on the overhead gantry for the M6, so no M6 on the painted sign.

*or not.

There are moveable prisms on the bunny ears sign. The Street View image (here) shows the prism has been set so the M6 is accessible via the M42 north. However, when I passed on Tuesday that wasn't the case: both prisms just showed plain blue so if you were after the M6 you'd just have to use your initiative.

[brummie_rob]

Some light reading on the TM for this scheme: http://assets.highways.gov.uk/roads/roa ... ssment.pdf

The view that incidents are lower on these roadworks than most is pretty accurate. Bar the large accident the other week, I've not heard of any other large scale incidents, mainly broken down vehicles (though even this is fairly low). The queues themselves are minimal, adds around 5-10 minutes except Friday when it is around 20 minutes.

The flipside is that the queue to join the M6 on the link doesn't occur apart from when there has been an incident on the M6, so overall journey times are fairly static for me.

[Bryn666]

I had a look at this last night. Barring the congestion on the opposite carriageway caused by a breakdown the roadworks were moving well on my side and signing was clear.

It does feel extremely weird going between J4a and J4 in just two lanes. Of course those of a certain age will remember it the first time around!

[brummie_rob]

I had a look at this last night. Barring the congestion on the opposite carriageway caused by a breakdown the roadworks were moving well on my side and signing was clear.

It does feel extremely weird going between J4a and J4 in just two lanes. Of course those of a certain age will remember it the first time around!

Is it two lanes all the way up? I thought the lane drop happened at J3 only.

Interesting to see it would have taken 5-7 years if we had three narrow lanes.

[Jeni]

I had a look at this last night. Barring the congestion on the opposite carriageway caused by a breakdown the roadworks were moving well on my side and signing was clear.

It does feel extremely weird going between J4a and J4 in just two lanes. Of course those of a certain age will remember it the first time around!

Is it two lanes all the way up? I thought the lane drop happened at J3 only.

Interesting to see it would have taken 5-7 years if we had three narrow lanes.

It's only 2 lanes from J3. Bryn is wrong

[Bryn666]

It was late and I don't even care

[Jeni]

It was late and I don't even care

And that section was never 2 lanes

[Sou'wester]

Some light reading on the TM for this scheme: http://assets.highways.gov.uk/roads/roa ... ssment.pdf

The view that incidents are lower on these roadworks than most is pretty accurate. Bar the large accident the other week, I've not heard of any other large scale incidents, mainly broken down vehicles (though even this is fairly low). The queues themselves are minimal, adds around 5-10 minutes except Friday when it is around 20 minutes.

The flipside is that the queue to join the M6 on the link doesn't occur apart from when there has been an incident on the M6, so overall journey times are fairly static for me.

I disagree. These roadworks for anyone coming from South of Worcester going North West are an absolute disaster.

The artificial queues at the M42 are completely unnecessary, they punish users travelling north east and for those travelling North West, you get stuck in 2 queues, rather than 1. Why couldn’t they have created a lane drop at M5 J4 and have 2 lanes all the way to the roadworks from there?

Roadworks going South are no worse than usual abomination that is M6 J10 to M6 J8, but northbound is a joke when I travel from Bristol, now.

[gepree68]

It's only 2 lanes from J3. Bryn is wrong

As of 2 December 2017:

• From J7 to J6, M5 northbound is D3M
• From J6 to J4A, M5 northbound is D4 (no hard shoulder). But approaching J4A the right hand lane is coned off.
• At M5 J4A (between exit slip for M42 and entry slip from M42), M5 northbound is D2M (starting with the right lane coned off)
• From J4A to J4, M5 northbound is D3M
• At M5 J4 (between exit slip for A491/A38 to entry slip from A491/A38), M5 northbound changes between D3M and D3 (no hard shoulder)
• From J4 to J3, M5 northbound is D3M
• At M5 J3 (between exit slip for A456 and entry slip from A456), M5 northbound is D2M

[brummie_rob]

Someone on the Facebook group for the viaduct has had this response with regards to moving the contraflow across:

We are aiming to complete the works on the southbound carriageway by early June this year, subject to weather conditions. We will then begin work on the northbound carriageway.

Our repairs to the southbound carriageway have taken slightly longer than we originally anticipated. This is mainly due to the severe winter weather conditions we’ve had this year and because we found the southbound carriageway to be in a worse condition than expected.
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Last week large roadwork signs appeared with the Facebook logo and group advertised on it.