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mattling wrote: ↑Sat Dec 26, 2020 18:56
The new GSJ isn’t open yet, nor the new exit off Festival island, but new lights are now operational on Festival Island including at the end of the A45W off slip meaning that the free flow from A45W to A46S is no more. So there are now additional phases at the NE and SE corner of Festival Island. Queues are now common at times of the day when everything used to flow freely. I haven’t used the Island at peak times yet, but I can only imagine it’s not pretty.
Why would there have been any need to remove the free flow? It doesn't make sense.
If you look at the line of the hedge to the south of the roundabout here https://www.google.com/maps/@52.3762579 ... a=!3m1!1e3, it appears that provision has always been there for an entrance on the south-eastern side, and hence a potential development in the plot of land between the roundabout and the river. It may be that such a development is a bit closer in planning than I was aware of.
Depending on how this evolves and beds in with traffic levels, especially once Covid is over and things get back to normal, I wonder if it will get bad enough to go on Chris' Bad Junctions page.
As to the loss of the Electric Railway Museum, I do believe that all units were re-homed in other museums and collections. They unfortunately never really recovered from some awful vandalism about 10 years ago.
Driving thrombosis caused this accident......a clot behind the wheel.
SouthWest Philip wrote: ↑Sat Dec 26, 2020 19:05
Why would there have been any need to remove the free flow? It doesn't make sense.
It was bloomin' dangerous: it was not a proper lane but only marked by a hatching and was commonly ignored by vehicles in the left lane suddenly deciding they actually wanted to go around the roundabout and thus crossing the hatching without any notice and cutting up traffic in the middle lane. Then you'd get those who didn't realise it was free flow, who 'd get to the bottom of the slip, see the roundabout and suddenly jam the anchors on.
I used to travel this road every day, but due to covid19 I've not been round it in the new configuration yet.
SouthWest Philip wrote: ↑Sat Dec 26, 2020 19:05
Why would there have been any need to remove the free flow? It doesn't make sense.
It was bloomin' dangerous: it was not a proper lane but only marked by a hatching and was commonly ignored by vehicles in the left lane suddenly deciding they actually wanted to go around the roundabout and thus crossing the hatching without any notice and cutting up traffic in the middle lane. Then you'd get those who didn't realise it was free flow, who 'd get to the bottom of the slip, see the roundabout and suddenly jam the anchors on.
I used to travel this road every day, but due to covid19 I've not been round it in the new configuration yet.
Bolt down kerbs and bollards would have fixed that.
Bryn Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already. She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
You can see some provisional plans halfway through the file below. It seems that as well as removing the freeflow lane westbound they proposed to narrow the A45 to two lanes eastbound!! This would reverse a major element of the £100m Tollbar improvement that opened in 2017. They aren't really doing this are they??
jackal wrote: ↑Sun Dec 27, 2020 18:25
You can see some provisional plans halfway through the file below. It seems that as well as removing the freeflow lane westbound they proposed to narrow the A45 to two lanes eastbound!! This would reverse a major element of the £100m Tollbar improvement that opened in 2017. They aren't really doing this are they??
All this seems to be to give a lane gain for the merge from the new junction. Will 33% of the traffic travelling eastbound be joining at this junction? I also see the eastbound A45 at Stivichall will be reduced to D1.
How would you like your grade separations, Sir? Big and complex.
jackal wrote: ↑Sun Dec 27, 2020 18:25
You can see some provisional plans halfway through the file below. It seems that as well as removing the freeflow lane westbound they proposed to narrow the A45 to two lanes eastbound!! This would reverse a major element of the £100m Tollbar improvement that opened in 2017. They aren't really doing this are they??
jackal wrote: ↑Sun Dec 27, 2020 18:25
You can see some provisional plans halfway through the file below. It seems that as well as removing the freeflow lane westbound they proposed to narrow the A45 to two lanes eastbound!! This would reverse a major element of the £100m Tollbar improvement that opened in 2017. They aren't really doing this are they??
That's an old document. Things have moved on and the new junction has been constructed with the 3 lanes all way betwen Toll Bar and Festival Island - although there are only 2 lanes through both those junctions.
jackal wrote: ↑Sun Dec 27, 2020 18:25
You can see some provisional plans halfway through the file below. It seems that as well as removing the freeflow lane westbound they proposed to narrow the A45 to two lanes eastbound!! This would reverse a major element of the £100m Tollbar improvement that opened in 2017. They aren't really doing this are they??
That's an old document. Things have moved on and the new junction has been constructed with the 3 lanes all way betwen Toll Bar and Festival Island - although there are only 2 lanes through both those junctions.
And the Stoneleigh Junction plans have been superceded by WCC's works. I would assume that HE blocked the reduction on lanes over Festival Island and quite sensibly, preferred a standards departure over a new bottleneck.
Driving thrombosis caused this accident......a clot behind the wheel.
jackal wrote: ↑Sun Dec 27, 2020 18:25
You can see some provisional plans halfway through the file below. It seems that as well as removing the freeflow lane westbound they proposed to narrow the A45 to two lanes eastbound!! This would reverse a major element of the £100m Tollbar improvement that opened in 2017. They aren't really doing this are they??
That's an old document. Things have moved on and the new junction has been constructed with the 3 lanes all way betwen Toll Bar and Festival Island - although there are only 2 lanes through both those junctions.
Hence provisional - if they've constructed it with three running lanes all the way that's good to hear.
SouthWest Philip wrote: ↑Sat Dec 26, 2020 19:05
Why would there have been any need to remove the free flow? It doesn't make sense.
It was bloomin' dangerous: it was not a proper lane but only marked by a hatching and was commonly ignored by vehicles in the left lane suddenly deciding they actually wanted to go around the roundabout and thus crossing the hatching without any notice and cutting up traffic in the middle lane. Then you'd get those who didn't realise it was free flow, who 'd get to the bottom of the slip, see the roundabout and suddenly jam the anchors on.
I used to travel this road every day, but due to covid19 I've not been round it in the new configuration yet.
While it would have been better as a separate lane with barriers etc, it always seemed perfectly safe to me. Never saw any of the issues you mention (apart from maybe slamming on brakes - but you get that at plenty of lanes like this)
Came past today and this is now (finally) all open so I did a tour around it. The dedicated lane for the new slip off Festival Island seems to be catching a few out who suddenly realise they *don't* want to be in the left-most lane. At the other end, the new roundabout towards Rowley Road is masssive with 4 lanes on many of the approaches - and it is all controlled by a vast number of traffic lights - they must be planning for some serious traffic in the future, but I only saw one other vehicle (a camouflaged JLR 4x4).