Shortest Lived Improvement?

[Owain]

Unfortunately not short-lived, but should be: this crossroads on the A647

Previously, it was possible to drive south-north through the junction between Branch Road and Ledgard Way, and vice versa. In their infinite wisdom, somebody decided that Branch Road traffic had to be "right-turn only" onto the A647 eastbound, with the result that the whole of Armley Town Street is now gridlocked every weekday morning. Only one movement has been removed - Branch Road to Ledgard Way - but the impact is devastating, and the motive for doing it quite beyond me...

[RichardA35]

There was a short-lived roundabout on the A14 here in 1991 between the opening of the Thrapston and Kettering sections.

[ellandback]

The Keyway Stage II has to be one of the most ridiculous - a 5 year life span before being mostly torn up.

I think that has to be one of the winners in terms of scale.

On a much lower scale a mini-roundabout installed on the A629 at the Calder and Hebble Junction lasted for a few weeks before it was ripped out for causing chaos. This reminds me, I must check the progress of that new junction sometime...

It's getting there, though the signs advising of an anticipated completion in Spring/Summer 2023 have had to be ... shall we say "updated".

Most of the new road that will run alongside the present B6112 is done and surfaced, along with the new roundabout, and some (but I don't think all) of the new signage is in place. The bridge linking this road to the A629 does not look anywhere near complete, however (although the basic structure is in place), and nothing has been done in respect of converting the present B6112 into a bus lane - presumably that can't start until traffic has been diverted onto the new road.

Very nearby to this, and back on topic, there was a very short-lived attempt to provide a right turn filter arrow at West Vale for traffic heading away from Elland on the B6113 wanting to access the B6112 towards Halifax, which was bagged up after a couple of months and permanently removed some time after that.

[Fenlander]

The A16 south approach shown here in August 2016. It was then widened to 2 lane entry and exit May 2017 view. That lasted for a couple of years and was working well before it was changed again as part of the works for the new services which narrowed the 2 lane entry by adding a large central island and all but removed the 2 lane exit from the roundabout as the island was largely built in the 2nd lane.
If the Google maps links don't drop you into the correct time have a click around in the timeline and you'll see the differences.

[WHBM]

Browsing through the British Newspaper Archive reveals many hidden stories, such as this one. The short but violent history of an A38 improvement. The A370 junction at East Brent was supposed to be safer after a short stretch of D2 with refuges was built in November 1968.

There was another one at the same time not far away, possibly around 1970, shortly before the M5 opened. The junction in Bridgwater where northbound A38 turns right onto The Broadway, the original inner ring around Bridgwater centre, was a gross congestion point, an inevitable mix of town and long-distance traffic, and was changed to a somewhat bizarre, and novel, roundabout arrangement. There wasn't the space for a mainstream roundabout, but there were channelised turn lanes, some segregated by metal ironwork in the road. I wonder if anyone has more details on it, I would like to see it again.

It was challenging at the best of times to negotiate, or even understand what you had to do, it was pretty counter-intuitive, especially in a dark, wet, evening rush hour. It rapidly became known as "THAT roundabout". Other soubriquets were doubtless also employed. I think it lasted about 12 months before being substantially changed again. Both changes probably required substantial civils and cost.

[Glenn A]

I can remember some sort of by pass in Newcastle city centre in the seventies that moved most through traffic that was heading to the Tyne Bridge to the eastern side of the city centre, as the Eldon Square shopping centre was being built and Northumberland St became buses only. This was mostly made redundant when the Central Motorway was opened and most north-south traffic stopped going through the city centre,

[SteveA30]

'That' Bridgwater rbt for WHBM

The shock discovery that Margaret Thatcher was the founder of Sabre in 1969.
Banwell residents get stroppy for a bypass in 1970.
M5 progresses too slowly
Taunton holiday queues.....

A magnifying glass may come in handy....
https://wheathill.wixsite.com/holiday-roads