A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

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Bryn666
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by Bryn666 »

I see they've removed the 1960s mentality straight-corner-straight and opted for an actual oval shape too.
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by 2 Sheds »

One more to add to the very long list of junctions with signals, where there really should be bridges.
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skiddaw05
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by skiddaw05 »

I'll wait to see if it does anything to reduce the queueing on the eastbound A17 approach
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by BeenEverywhere »

I often think a no right turn out of McDonalds would help free things up, it's not unusual to have a queue going into there caused by people who can't get parked due to traffic waiting to come out of there.

Also, I need to throw in a Ken Bruce quote: "Holdingham - is that the one before Puttenham Down?"
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by ForestChav »

BeenEverywhere wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 15:57 I often think a no right turn out of McDonalds would help free things up, it's not unusual to have a queue going into there caused by people who can't get parked due to traffic waiting to come out of there.

Also, I need to throw in a Ken Bruce quote: "Holdingham - is that the one before Puttenham Down?"
If it's anywhere like round here it's more likely the queue to get into McDonalds on the drive-thru will hold people up.

Thing is at ours the queue can run through a zebra crossing (well, this retail park paints them yellow, so more like a wasp crossing) and then past a mini roundabout which some people think they can just overtake, which makes it quite dangerous really.

They're either busier post-covid or slower serving, not decided which.
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by danfw194 »

ForestChav wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 16:38
BeenEverywhere wrote: Sun Oct 24, 2021 15:57 I often think a no right turn out of McDonalds would help free things up, it's not unusual to have a queue going into there caused by people who can't get parked due to traffic waiting to come out of there.

Also, I need to throw in a Ken Bruce quote: "Holdingham - is that the one before Puttenham Down?"
If it's anywhere like round here it's more likely the queue to get into McDonalds on the drive-thru will hold people up.

Thing is at ours the queue can run through a zebra crossing (well, this retail park paints them yellow, so more like a wasp crossing) and then past a mini roundabout which some people think they can just overtake, which makes it quite dangerous really.

They're either busier post-covid or slower serving, not decided which.
I'd say busier rather than slower. McDelivery has exploded in the last couple of years. Last handful of times I've been into McD's there's been at least 2/3 delivery riders waiting on pickups.
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by jervi »

Signals were switched on today at 10am. However it looks like they were having issues with the A15 N arm, so signals not on for that arm yet. Some works are still going on with signage & landscaping, so some lane closures.
I went out to drive around it today, below is a video doing a right turn from all approaches both before (Jan 2021) & after the works (Today).

I'll give it a few months before I decided whether the signalisation helps or not.
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by A1OZZ »

First time I’ve driven around the Holdingham roundabout since completion of the works. From the A15 north to A17 east the clear lane guidance makes the task so much easier with none of that manic lane switching that used to go on. Thumbs up from me 😎.
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by jervi »

So I've bought a drone. And of course the first thing I use it for is recording junctions.

So here is some videos of both recent junction improvements on the A17.

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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by c2R »

I'm not keen on the approach from the A17 heading eastbound - I drove it the other week; you can't use both lanes to head straight ahead to the A17 meaning that you end up either cutting someone up or having to loop round the roundabout.
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by skiddaw05 »

From the overhead video you can already see the traffic building up in the RH lane at the end of the westbound dual carriageway, just like it did before
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by TheKeymeister »

I suspect the traffic survey that dictated the roundabout design was done on a strange day. I always found it hard to swallow that A17-A17 wasn't the dominant flow, and still believe a hamburger across that movement would have been the best solution, and would have most likely worked permanently.

Heading westbound, the right hand lane (the only one you can use to stay on the A17) is usually around 3 times busier than the left hand lane. As I said before in this thread, they should have widened the A17 west of the junction for a couple of hundred metres with a merge back to single, and allowed both lanes to go straight on. Unfortunately, doing that now would entail a fair bit more than a bit of white lining.
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by jervi »

TheKeymeister wrote: Fri Feb 25, 2022 21:53 I suspect the traffic survey that dictated the roundabout design was done on a strange day. I always found it hard to swallow that A17-A17 wasn't the dominant flow, and still believe a hamburger across that movement would have been the best solution, and would have most likely worked permanently.

Heading westbound, the right hand lane (the only one you can use to stay on the A17) is usually around 3 times busier than the left hand lane. As I said before in this thread, they should have widened the A17 west of the junction for a couple of hundred metres with a merge back to single, and allowed both lanes to go straight on. Unfortunately, doing that now would entail a fair bit more than a bit of white lining.
From using it now at different times of the day I completely agree with you. Should have two lanes for A17 in both directions, which would also require a short piece of dualing on the Western side of the roundabout (maybe 100-200 metres), however this would of required land purchase, which if no agreement could be found with the land owner, could of pushed the project back by years and much more costly too. I imagine it was for that sole reason only 1 lane Westbound through the junction was provided, it might have it somewhere in the report in one of my earlier posts, but cba to look through it.
If heading westbound along the A17 for either the A17 or A15NB and the queues are beyond the footbridge, it is quicker to use the left most lane, take the Sleaford exit and then do a u-turn at the small roundabout 100m down the road, and then attack the roundabout from the Sleaford approach, of course only locals know about this hack for now.
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by skiddaw05 »

Is there a minimum length of merge in turn length you can have when leaving a roundabout - I was wondering if there was room for one on the westbound A17 exit instead of the hatching so you could have two straight ahead lanes from the westbound approach through the roundabout
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by Fenlander »

The one on A16 south where it crosses A17 at Sutterton was widened to a usable length at the last but one upgrade but rendered useless at the subsequent upgrade. All the signage & road markings suggest it’s there but the concrete kerb down the middle of the road suggests it isn’t.
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by skiddaw05 »

First time I've used the new layout (heading west) today

The traffic was stacked up nicely in lane 3 for the A17, even the wording was wearing off, especially compared with that in lanes 1 and 2 (which were almost empty)

Seeing it in the flesh (or asphalt) just convinces me more that someone had got their traffic figures muddled up
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by c2R »

skiddaw05 wrote: Wed Mar 02, 2022 12:36 Is there a minimum length of merge in turn length you can have when leaving a roundabout - I was wondering if there was room for one on the westbound A17 exit instead of the hatching so you could have two straight ahead lanes from the westbound approach through the roundabout
There are other roundabouts with very short merge distances indeed, e.g. here https://www.google.com/maps/@51.8315097 ... 384!8i8192
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Re: A17 / A15 / A153 Junction Improvements.

Post by Bryn666 »

skiddaw05 wrote: Wed Mar 02, 2022 12:36 Is there a minimum length of merge in turn length you can have when leaving a roundabout - I was wondering if there was room for one on the westbound A17 exit instead of the hatching so you could have two straight ahead lanes from the westbound approach through the roundabout
100m I think, but would have to consult the gold plated nightmare that is DMRB.
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