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A303Chris wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 17:10
So does this
£31 million for the Preston western distributor scheme: a new dual carriageway link between the M55 and the A583 is designed to improve travel between the enterprise zone at Warton and the Springfields nuclear facility at Salwick, as well as reduce congestion in Preston and directly lead to the creation of 3,575 houses and the creation of over 500 jobs. Through the Lancashire County Council funded link road, a further 1,745 houses will also be built.
Mean the M55 is going to finally get it's junction 2
Yes. And it will be immediately overwhelmed by all the houses being built as the new road is purely to serve new development and not relieve central Preston.
I'm sure the usual token active travel provision that goes from nowhere to sodall will be put in.
Preston is a relatively small city and is mostly flat. It's perfect for active travel, but the few off road cycle routes are rubbish and one (using the old Tramway Bridge) has been allowed to fall into ruin.
Bryn Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already. She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
A303Chris wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 17:10
So does this mean the M55 is going to finally get it's junction 2
Yes. And it will be immediately overwhelmed by all the houses being built as the new road is purely to serve new development and not relieve central Preston.
It won't be overwhelmed if, for a change, a suitable high-performance junction is built.
A303Chris wrote: ↑Tue Oct 01, 2019 17:10
So does this mean the M55 is going to finally get it's junction 2
Yes. And it will be immediately overwhelmed by all the houses being built as the new road is purely to serve new development and not relieve central Preston.
It won't be overwhelmed if, for a change, a suitable high-performance junction is built.
It's a dumbbell, and for good measure they're messing up the existing GSJ on the A583.
The M55 junction should be a trumpet. The dumbbell could be converted to trumpet later, but why wait? There's little cost difference, just land-take.
However, the dumbbell (which could be a double-teardrop) might be sufficient since the new road has two intermediate junctions that are roundabouts. The northern one of those has five arms, and it looks like it might be partially signalised from the start. That can't supply enough traffic northwards to overwhelm a dumbbell - especially this dumbbell, which has no northern continuation and where northbound vehicles therefore experience no conflict.
The Preston Western Distributor's major defect though, as I think you infer, is the southern terminus. Integration with the A583 diverge does make sense but this design is appalling: a roundabout with 3.5 arms, one left-turn filter lane, and probably partial signalisation from the start. Spend some money to do that interchange properly. If penny-pinching is essential, then eliminate one bridge by plonking another terminal dumbbell here, but some way farther west
Their ambitions can't be that immediate as the end of the Penwortham Bypass that was originally intended as a roundabout for this purpose is now a sharp curve with signal control to force the A59 onto the new road.
All that will need to be totally ripped out to provide a bridge approach.
Bryn Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already. She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
jackal wrote: ↑Thu Oct 03, 2019 09:31
It's no more than an unfunded item in strategic planning documents at the moment.
And nearly 40 years overdue. People who don't know Preston query why it was the first place to get a motorway bypass but a simple visit to the city explains why.
You can't unclog the centre and make it less swamped with traffic without a SW alternative. However a pants quality housing estate road is never going to provide that.
Bryn Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already. She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
I wish the government would bring forward the Whitehaven relief road from 2025 to something like 2021. The A595 is a nightmare at peak times and a relief road would probably remove half the traffic from the A595. Also while this has been made more difficult due to a supermarket being built, the government should give Cumbria County Council the funding to allow a Workington southern by pass, which has been mentioned for the last 12 years. The A597 is becoming too busy and something like roadworks can see ten minute delays.
Glenn A wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2019 14:47
I wish the government would bring forward the Whitehaven relief road from 2025 to something like 2021. The A595 is a nightmare at peak times and a relief road would probably remove half the traffic from the A595. Also while this has been made more difficult due to a supermarket being built, the government should give Cumbria County Council the funding to allow a Workington southern by pass, which has been mentioned for the last 12 years. The A597 is becoming too busy and something like roadworks can see ten minute delays.
Something like roadworks can see ten minute delays..... gosh, I'm surprised at such a short delay . In Luton something like normal peak hour traffic causes typically 15-20 minute delays (depending on route obviously), roadworks/traffic incidents and/or bad weather adds more, and if the M1 is blocked then all bets are off on how long it will take to get from one end of town to the other (or even worse, across the motorway to Dunstable).
Glenn A wrote: ↑Sat Oct 05, 2019 14:47
I wish the government would bring forward the Whitehaven relief road from 2025 to something like 2021. The A595 is a nightmare at peak times and a relief road would probably remove half the traffic from the A595. Also while this has been made more difficult due to a supermarket being built, the government should give Cumbria County Council the funding to allow a Workington southern by pass, which has been mentioned for the last 12 years. The A597 is becoming too busy and something like roadworks can see ten minute delays.
Something like roadworks can see ten minute delays..... gosh, I'm surprised at such a short delay . In Luton something like normal peak hour traffic causes typically 15-20 minute delays (depending on route obviously), roadworks/traffic incidents and/or bad weather adds more, and if the M1 is blocked then all bets are off on how long it will take to get from one end of town to the other (or even worse, across the motorway to Dunstable).
Luton is obviously four times bigger, but the A595 is one long drag from Howgate to Sellafield. Ideally Whitehaven should have been by passed when the Distington- Howgate by pass was being built, but this was never on the cards. Yet roll on 2025 at the earliest.
Is it just me, or is it surprising that a minor project such as the Stubbington bypass is part of the subject matter of a supposedly major national announcement?
Paul7755 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 07, 2019 14:46
Is it just me, or is it surprising that a minor project such as the Stubbington bypass is part of the subject matter of a supposedly major national announcement?
I guess their hands are tied on the big schemes as the 2015-20 RIS was announced long ago, and RIS2 isn't ready yet.
Anyway, it's actually pretty substantial compared to Wichelstowe southern access (which is just an S2 crossing of the M4) and the White Hart improvement (complex but ineffectual junction fiddling):
We are proposing to develop solutions to improve the Inner Ring Road in sections:
West Quay Road – including options for realignment to the west to release the opportunity to downgrade the existing West Quay Road so to connect future development on Western Gateway with Southampton Central station hub the rest of the City Centre both east and south, and provide a sustainable transport led corridor. The realigned road will provide reliable connections to the Port, Western Gateway, Royal Pier and City Centre.
That sounds excellent. West Quay Road is a terrible drag that is congested all day and while I don't doubt that the new alignment (whatever it looks like) will have its critics, it can hardly be any worse than what's there presently, especially for pedestrians.
It will be interesting to see what a "sustainable transport led corridor" can look like given that no buses want to serve the road and it mainly serves car parks, car dealerships and drive thrus.
Despite the absolute chaos caused during construction, Southampton City Council's work at Platform Road worked out for the better and I hope that can be repeated.
Johnathan404 wrote: ↑Mon Oct 07, 2019 17:16
That sounds excellent. West Quay Road is a terrible drag that is congested all day and while I don't doubt that the new alignment (whatever it looks like) will have its critics, it can hardly be any worse than what's there presently, especially for pedestrians.
It will be interesting to see what a "sustainable transport led corridor" can look like given that no buses want to serve the road and it mainly serves car parks, car dealerships and drive thrus.
I agree entirely - I think it will be very interesing to see what they mean by this; West Quay Road is the access for essentially to the docks - and so there's a large amount of freight heading for the port, as well as Isle of Wight Ferry Traffic and traffic for the Cruise ships using it. Couple this with years of car depedent development (such as car showrooms, and out of town 'leisure' park) and you end up exactly with what you've got there. Now, there's plenty of room in the docks to realign the access for the docks, but to what end? While there is some use of the railway to take freight out, and cars out that have landed from the sea, there's quite a bit of freight that arrives that can't just be put on rails...