Impossible (?) Road Improvements

[Vierwielen]

... snip ...

We had plans for a massive April 1st prank involving the proposal of a high level bridge to connect the megalopolises of Old Town to Heptonstall as part of a wider A646 bypass... the alternative suggestion was that we were going to implement a major flood remediation measure by turning Hebden Bridge into a reservoir.

About 30 years ago, one of the local rags published an April Fool suggesting that the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough becomes London's third airport. Today it is one of London's major de facto airports - private jets are zooming in and out all day. A few months ago, when the King made a visit to France (I think), the Court Circular showed him as leaving from Farnborough (rather than Northolt or Brize Norton).

[ForestChav]

Shrewsbury Bypass.
Was with my dad yesterday and got caught in traffic (didn't stop but can be 1 mile traffic jams and can stretch into the town centre in the holidays)
My dad said that they never built it for the future and only accounted for traffic then.
I suggested this but he said too many properties and it's too late now and they just gotta cope.

There is probably the land take there to build a parclo or dumbell within the existing structure, if you're thinking about keeping the A5 free flowing.

Round here there are plenty of junctions on the new A46 and also the A1 where a similar setup has happened.

If there isn't a lot of flows between the A5 and A49 there, keeping both going through the junction but with slips between them, like A1/A52, would probably do. But is it worth the disruption?

[iantherev]

'Modal Shift' appears in every one of Wales's quoted paragraphs!

If they want to encourage modal shift they need to stop finding housing estates to divert Interurban bus services around.

[Gareth Thomas]

The A20 through Dover. It's the main road to the ferries at the Eastern Docks, but it cuts the town centre off from the seafront. The problem is there is nowhere else to put a road like this due to the terrain and the town centre. So all they can really do is "improve" the existing road.

It's a shame the Western Docks aren't the main ferry terminal, because they are much easier to get to from the A20 than the Eastern ones.

[Truvelo]

Shrewsbury Bypass.
Was with my dad yesterday and got caught in traffic (didn't stop but can be 1 mile traffic jams and can stretch into the town centre in the holidays)
My dad said that they never built it for the future and only accounted for traffic then.
I suggested this but he said too many properties and it's too late now and they just gotta cope.

There is probably the land take there to build a parclo or dumbell within the existing structure, if you're thinking about keeping the A5 free flowing.

Round here there are plenty of junctions on the new A46 and also the A1 where a similar setup has happened.

If there isn't a lot of flows between the A5 and A49 there, keeping both going through the junction but with slips between them, like A1/A52, would probably do. But is it worth the disruption?

It should have been built with GSJ's from day one but even when it was first planned in the 1970s the junctions were all to be at-grade apart from the A458 which is only a GSJ because the geography suited it rather than traffic flows. The worst part of the bypass is actually the A49 on the eastern side where during the afternoon the section between the B5062 and A53 can be crawling in both directions. A simple meccano style S2 flyover for both these roundabouts would work wonders.

[Chris56000]

. . .It was defined in "Policy For Roads" and subsequent Command and White papers as "A5/A49 Shrewsbury Southern and Eastern Bypass, Standard D2/S" – it should have been planned as "D2" for both the A5 and A49 sections with GSJs, including the A5/A49 junction with a GSJ roundabout interchange for both the A49 Eastern Bypass and a GSJ Roundabout for Preston Brook, with D2 flyovers/underpasses catering for the through east/west A5 traffic!

. . .A short length of D2 on the A49 bypassing Bayston Hill south of the A5 and another D2 for the A49 Eastern Bypass section, returning to single–carriageway at Battlefield Roundabout would have solved all the problems round here!

Chris Williams

[Bryn666]

The A20 through Dover. It's the main road to the ferries at the Eastern Docks, but it cuts the town centre off from the seafront. The problem is there is nowhere else to put a road like this due to the terrain and the town centre. So all they can really do is "improve" the existing road.

It's a shame the Western Docks aren't the main ferry terminal, because they are much easier to get to from the A20 than the Eastern ones.

Given the appalling state of some of the infrastructure around Eastern Docks I wouldn't be surprised if in the longer term future they consider shifting everything to Western Docks, although the recent renewal works have been very focussed on turning it all into a marina and flats so who knows.

Always like to compare with Calais which has gone all out on the new stuff since the B word.

[Ritchie333]

I use this section of the A20 to get to places along the east Kent coast like Deal and Sandwich. Although it's obviously not a fast road, it's not particularly long and the amount of cross traffic joining is minimal. I can't recall being held up in a queue here. Although, that's probably because when I hear the ports are congested I give the area a wide berth and find a different route.