M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

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Chris5156
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by Chris5156 »

Duple wrote: Sat Sep 11, 2021 21:38Coming through here today both south then north, lots of white "pods" have appeared as per the photo above, I would say 75% of the way? Makes you wonder why this was never as part of the original spec but money I guess ?
More to do with the technology only having been developed in the last few years, and the design for this scheme being finalised before SVD was available.
Really frustrates me how much of a mess everything is surrounding these works though. Why can't they put the VMS to use - most of today's traffic jams were caused by people in lane 3 /4 trying to merge northbound after junction 12 where the lane drop is. But at junction 12 itself the traffic was averaging 60mph, why not just put keep left arrows up a junction before or some form of warning "lane closure after junction 12" which I'm sure I've seen on an MS4 before?

Is it just lack of care for their "customers" or computer can't do that, but it must be able to if that actual lane gets closed, no?
Until the project is finished and the road is fully open, it's - er - unfinished. That means the VMS, cameras etc won't necessarily have been commissioned and tested. You can't use a system that isn't ready to be used yet. I've no idea what state the signalling and communications equipment is in on this section, but if the cones are still out and the works are still on site then it's unlikely the signals are cleared for use yet.
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by brummie_rob »

I think he means the VMS between J12 and J13 which could assist with signing the lane four closure but instead fixed signage does. It always causes queues on any Friday and some weekends because people sit in Lane 3 and 4.
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by Chris5156 »

brummie_rob wrote: Mon Sep 13, 2021 00:11I think he means the VMS between J12 and J13 which could assist with signing the lane four closure but instead fixed signage does. It always causes queues on any Friday and some weekends because people sit in Lane 3 and 4.
Fair enough.
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by mikehindsonevans »

Went southbound then northbound on Monday and Tuesday respectively, this week.

I hope that there are ongoing plans to keep the undergrowth hacked back regularly, to allow the RADAR installations to operate without interference at all times.
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by Big L »

Some of the variable limit signs southbound around J14 were showing NSL this morning. I'm assuming something went wrong.
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by mikehindsonevans »

Both southbound and northbound across last weekend worked fine. Stafford services northbound on Sunday evening (apart from the dimly-lit car park) was a welcome break between Hampshire and Cheshire.

Beyond j12 northbound is the only time/place we would use lane one on a smartified motorway, watching the chaos at the lane 4 closure before j13.
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by brummie_rob »

Seen a few instances of the VMS showing NSL recently especially southbound.

Whilst everything including the new radar looked complete there seems to be new earthworks appearing closer to J15 with the cones in the new lane one replaced with metal barriers. Not sure it's new ERA as there quite close to exisiting ones!
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by Big L »

Posted by someone on a local Facebookpage today.
.....
I am writing to inform you that we are now starting a phased opening of the first section of the upgraded M6 between junctions 13 and 15.

This will initially mean a fourth lane opens to traffic on the southbound carriageway.

When complete, the upgrade will bring vital extra capacity to the motorway, improve journeys by tackling stop-start congestion and maintain world-leading levels of road safety.

This upgrade is part of the M6 strategic route between London and the North West, which on average carries 127,000 vehicles per day, and will mean more reliable journeys for drivers.

The upgrade to the stretch between Stafford and Stoke-on-Trent also has a number of features to help drivers. These include extra technology such as the Motorway Incident Detection Automatic Signalling (MIDAS) system that sets automatic speed limits across all four lanes to smooth the flow of traffic and reduce ‘stop-start’ rapid changes of speed. Improved CCTV coverage helps our control centre operators to manage incidents, to reduce the speed limit, close lanes by using a Red X, display warning messages, and it helps them to advise the emergency or recovery services more effectively.

The section also has Stopped Vehicle Detection technology which identifies stationary vehicles, typically in 20 seconds, and alerts a control room operator who can see the incident on camera, close lanes and dispatch a traffic officer if necessary.

There are also safe places to stop every 1.2 miles on average including regular emergency areas, two service areas and four slip road exits.
We will be opening the project in phases, starting with the southbound carriageway between junctions 15 and 13. Work will begin tomorrow (Friday) night with four lanes open along the whole stretch from Monday (22 November) morning.

A 60mph speed limit will remain in place over the coming weeks. Work continues on the northbound carriageway.

Safety is our top priority and we open all of our motorway upgrades in a phased way to ensure that they are fully tested and operational before they go live and that there is a smooth handover from our roadworks teams to our control room operators.

While this is happening many of the safety measures from the roadworks, like reduced speed limits and a free recovery service, continue. The temporary CCTV used during the roadworks also remains in place, working alongside the new permanent CCTV installed as part of the upgrade.

We expect to complete the testing work during January 2022. After that, the roadworks will be fully removed and a variable speed limit of up to 70mph (the national speed limit) will be introduced.

I appreciate you will be aware of the Transport Select Committee recently published the findings of its inquiry into the rollout and safety of smart motorways. We are absolutely committed to making smart motorways as safe as possible and welcome the Committee’s scrutiny. After three years, the construction of this section has been completed, allowing us to remove the traffic management and bring the extra capacity and benefits to the public.

In the meantime, we are considering its findings and recommendations in detail and are working with the Department for Transport to support them in the response that they will be making to the report.

If you have any questions, or if you would like any further information about the project, please contact M6J13-15@kier.co.uk.
......
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by brummie_rob »

Was looking forward to four lanes this morning but nothing yet. What group did they post this on considering they've sent zero comms to anyone else?
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by brummie_rob »

Four lanes now running southbound a little later than billed. Work continues northbound with what looks like possibly some drainage and a possible new ERA being installed.
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by brummie_rob »

Average speed signs and temporary 60mph restrictions removed with 60 enforced by the gantries. Not sure if average cameras are still active mind as they don't have 'Not in use' by them.
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by brummie_rob »

Edit: Looks like the 60mph is back on tonight, must have been turned off or forgotten about at some point today. :laugh:

And just over a month later and ironically on the day smart motorways are halted; the Southbound is officially open at 70mph. Looks like work still progressing northbound on several new ERA areas so this looks a while off opening yet.
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by Norfolktolancashire »

Earlier ths week I travelled along the northbound section for the first time in a couple of years. The wider lanes and 60 mph limit made the journey far more pleasant than the earlier narrow lanes and 50 mph.
Is it nearly four years though since that section was begun?!
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by Bendo »

brummie_rob wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 11:46 Edit: Looks like the 60mph is back on tonight, must have been turned off or forgotten about at some point today. :laugh:

And just over a month later and ironically on the day smart motorways are halted; the Southbound is officially open at 70mph. Looks like work still progressing northbound on several new ERA areas so this looks a while off opening yet.
Saw your post the other day and got my hopes up. Needless 50 this evening for it's entirety length. That dragged a bit
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by brummie_rob »

Bendo wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 23:22
brummie_rob wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 11:46 Edit: Looks like the 60mph is back on tonight, must have been turned off or forgotten about at some point today. :laugh:

And just over a month later and ironically on the day smart motorways are halted; the Southbound is officially open at 70mph. Looks like work still progressing northbound on several new ERA areas so this looks a while off opening yet.
Saw your post the other day and got my hopes up. Needless 50 this evening for it's entirety length. That dragged a bit
Yes, it was 50mph on Thursday too although for the first few miles there were flashing advisory 60mph limits. Is this part of the testing phase these days to cycle through different limits for a period and Wednesday being national speed limit was one of them?!
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by jusme »

brummie_rob wrote: Sat Jan 15, 2022 01:31
Bendo wrote: Fri Jan 14, 2022 23:22
brummie_rob wrote: Wed Jan 12, 2022 11:46 Edit: Looks like the 60mph is back on tonight, must have been turned off or forgotten about at some point today. :laugh:

And just over a month later and ironically on the day smart motorways are halted; the Southbound is officially open at 70mph. Looks like work still progressing northbound on several new ERA areas so this looks a while off opening yet.
Saw your post the other day and got my hopes up. Needless 50 this evening for it's entirety length. That dragged a bit
Yes, it was 50mph on Thursday too although for the first few miles there were flashing advisory 60mph limits. Is this part of the testing phase these days to cycle through different limits for a period and Wednesday being national speed limit was one of them?!
Flashing 50 on last VMS before J15 S/B (with the text "keep left unless overtaking"), then 60 on the new signs all the way, apart from a couple of 50's around J14 and one lone 50 between J14 and J13 (Sunday around 11:45am, light traffic).

Stuck? Testing? Some other method to this oddness?
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by mikehindsonevans »

Southbound on Monday saw the overhead panels set to "60" all the way south. Quite a few drivers (just my observation, nothing scientific) still seem to be avoiding the leftmost lane.

Northbound on Tuesday afternoon (March 15th) saw, as usual, 18 miles of 60mph running but with several sets of frantic excavation (with the brand new tarmac of the former hard shoulder covered in red mud) to retrofit the extra refuge bays.

Somehow, the forlorn sign on the northbound verge, trumpeting "completion March 2022" seem a tad optimistic now!
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by brummie_rob »

mikehindsonevans wrote: Wed Mar 16, 2022 06:53 Southbound on Monday saw the overhead panels set to "60" all the way south. Quite a few drivers (just my observation, nothing scientific) still seem to be avoiding the leftmost lane.

Northbound on Tuesday afternoon (March 15th) saw, as usual, 18 miles of 60mph running but with several sets of frantic excavation (with the brand new tarmac of the former hard shoulder covered in red mud) to retrofit the extra refuge bays.

Somehow, the forlorn sign on the northbound verge, trumpeting "completion March 2022" seem a tad optimistic now!
There are about three extra refuge bays left to complete; one closest to J15 looks in a right state as they had to do a lot of strengthening and piling work so I think a finish this month is unlikely. Two of the new ones are awaiting final surfacing. Interesting that five extra bays were ordered for Northbound but nothing on the Southbound side; I presume it is because of the uphill sections going north that require them more.

I have been told by the contractors that the 60 limit southbound for testing should be finished mid-month (it is still on and goes way past J13 for some reason). Then begins the northbound testing phase for god knows how long!
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by brummie_rob »

Finally an update on the project page. Not sure why testing has taken from Dec-April for Southbound!
Work on the southbound side of the M6 between junctions 15 and 13 is almost complete. We are currently testing the new technology that we have installed, including Stopped Vehicle Detection (SVD). This is why the speed limit is 60mph, even though we have four lanes open. We’re testing the new technology to make sure it is operating correctly between the junctions.

We have listened to drivers’ concerns about being able to find a safe place to stop in an emergency, and that’s why we are installing five more additional emergency areas (EAs) on the M6 as part of the motorway upgrade. This work is taking place on the northbound carriageway and is due to be completed within a few weeks. Testing of the technology on the northbound carriageway will then begin.

Revised scheme completion date

The scheme was originally due to finish in March 2022 but by using a contraflow, which enabled us to carry out more work during the daytime, we were able to reduce that by six months.

However, with our commitment to install SVD before the scheme opens, the full scheme completion has now gone past the original date of March 2022. While carrying out the SVD work, we’ve also taken the opportunity to install the five additional EAs now, rather than cause more disruption at a later date.

All motorway upgrades are opened in a phased way to ensure that they are fully tested and operational before they go live, and that there is a smooth handover from the roadworks teams to control room operators.

Safety is always our primary concern and we will only fully open the carriageway when all of the technology has been comprehensively tested. As a result of this additional work, the revised completion date for this scheme is the end of June 2022.

We are working hard to get the work completed quickly and hope to have all four lanes running on the northbound carriageway at 60mph and southbound at 70mph shortly.
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Re: M6 junction 13 to junction 15 smart motorway

Post by Big L »

Not really an update; don't think there's anything there we don't already know and there's no concrete schedule for finishing.
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