A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

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c2R
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A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

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Truvelo
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

Post by Truvelo »

At last an improvement scheme I agree with. So many schemes in the last decade or so have simply consisted of reduced speed limits and hatching. Realigning bends to make them smoother is something that needs doing more often.
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

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Indeed, it's long overdue. It's just a shame that the scheme doesn't include a Hooks Cross and Stevenage southern bypasses...!
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

Post by SteveA30 »

Good to see attention to detail. We've all driven through junctions where we can see that the slightest minor alteration would be a major improvement. Lowering the height of a wall by just 2 brick layers or, cutting a hedge back.

When many councils are altering rbts to make them tighter, Herts are improving them. Probably the work of one indidvidual within the Highways Dept. Hope he/she gets a lot done before he/she is replaced.
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

Post by echowarning »

I've driven the A602 all the way in from the A10 before and the lack of right turn lanes has always been the major stumbling block - so having those built in should make big differences. The alignment of the road didn't really bother me, that said. It certainly doesn't feel dangerous, but all in all these look to be minor adjustments (with the exception of the 1.2km off-line section) that should make handy differences.
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

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The alignment issues are mainly sharp bends with adverse camber, which results in lorries falling over, and people losing control of their vehicles into the brick wall on the side of the road. Essentially, other than the two bypasses (of Watton and Tonwell), the road is pretty much as it has been for most of the modern automotive era.
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

Post by echowarning »

c2R wrote:The alignment issues are mainly sharp bends with adverse camber, which results in lorries falling over, and people losing control of their vehicles into the brick wall on the side of the road. Essentially, other than the two bypasses (of Watton and Tonwell), the road is pretty much as it has been for most of the modern automotive era.
Ah - see I view those bends as fun and interesting when taken at appropriate speeds.

Surprised it is a popular route for lorries though, with the A1(M) and A414 being close, I'd have thought they'd be more suitable routes.
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

Post by Fenlander »

I bet you're another like me who speeds up for the bends and slows down for the straights :shock:
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

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It's quite a busy route partly as it's coloured a nice green on the map!

Seriously though, Glaxo have a plant in Stevenage and one in Ware, so it gets a lot of traffic for that. Similarly the County Council have offices in Hertford and Stevenage.

The road acts as a bypass for Hertford (to the north), while the dual carriageway A414 is best avoided in peak hours. There is a large amount of commuter traffic in both directions, with a higher flow from Stevenage to Hertford in the morning, and vice versa in the evening. The google traffic flows show it up nicely.

There are also refuse and sand/gravel extraction sites surrounding the road at the Ware end.

The problem is worsened if there are problems on the A1 (to compound evening n/b traffic diverting generally to avoid the lane drop at the clock junction and morning s/b to avoid the two lane section south of Langley Sidings).
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

Post by Chris5156 »

Looks good - as Truvelo says, it's nice to see highway engineering as a solution to a problem, rather than just an attempt to make a bad alignment safer.
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

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Clearance work is currently underway on a series of junction improvements between Ware and Stevenage on the A602.

As part of this, the roundabout to the south of Watton at Stone is planned to be converted into a large signalised crossroads, with the Paynes Hall Roundabout and Westmill Interchange circulatory carriageways and A602 approaches being widened.
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From the SABRE Wiki: Paynes Hall Roundabout :


The Paynes Hall Roundabout is a roundabout on the A602 near Tonwell. It was constructed along with a bypass of Paynes Hall and Westmill hamlet in the 1970s, replacing a crossroads that existed slightly to the north east. In 1986 the Tonwell bypass road was opened and linked to the roundabout

It is also known as the Anchor Lane Roundabout or Westmill Roundabout.

Planning consent has been applied for as of May 2016 to improve the roundabout by widening the circulatory carriageway

... Read More
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

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Things are progressing with ground clearances and survey work at the junctions for this £19.4m set of schemes. Construction is due to start soon on the following schemes:

Diagram of improvements for Westmill Interchange (A602/A10), Ware: https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/media- ... nction.pdf
Diagram of improvements for Hertford Road Roundabout, Stevenage: https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/media- ... nction.pdf
Diagram of improvements for the Paynes Hall/Anchor Lane Roundabout, Bengeo Rural: https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/media- ... nction.pdf
Diagram of Westmill Road realignment, Bengeo Rural: https://www.hertfordshire.gov.uk/media- ... ements.pdf
This one is a long time coming - the land on the inside of the bend was bought around the late 80s/early 90s and the hedge moved


The two remaining Schemes, the A602/A119 junction at Watton and the A602 realignment between Heath Mount and Stony Hills (Ware Road improvements) are currently with the planning authority, with construction expected to start in Autumn 2018.
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

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After a bit of delay, further work is taking place on the two remaining Schemes, the A602/A119 junction at Watton and the A602 realignment between Heath Mount and Stony Hills (Ware Road improvements).

These include the conversion of the A602/A119 roundabout to a signalised crossroads (acres of tarmac and turning lanes) to increase the junction throughput at peak hours, and various minor junction improvements, notably at Sacombe Pound and Stony Hills.

It looks like the local authority are planning to submit a further planning application for better NMU provision, which has been a long time coming.
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

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c2R wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 11:45 After a bit of delay, further work is taking place on the two remaining Schemes, the A602/A119 junction at Watton and the A602 realignment between Heath Mount and Stony Hills (Ware Road improvements).

These include the conversion of the A602/A119 roundabout to a signalised crossroads (acres of tarmac and turning lanes) to increase the junction throughput at peak hours, and various minor junction improvements, notably at Sacombe Pound and Stony Hills.

It looks like the local authority are planning to submit a further planning application for better NMU provision, which has been a long time coming.
This is quite interesting as while it is near to me and very familiar it is somewhere I have hardly ever driven at peak times. However, I can well imagine that traffic on the A602 heading towards Stevenage tends to queue at the roundabout, probably exacerbated by many of those doing the opposite not indicating left (something Stevenage drivers are notorious for IME).
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

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trickstat wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 12:16
c2R wrote: Wed Apr 08, 2020 11:45 After a bit of delay, further work is taking place on the two remaining Schemes, the A602/A119 junction at Watton and the A602 realignment between Heath Mount and Stony Hills (Ware Road improvements).

These include the conversion of the A602/A119 roundabout to a signalised crossroads (acres of tarmac and turning lanes) to increase the junction throughput at peak hours, and various minor junction improvements, notably at Sacombe Pound and Stony Hills.

It looks like the local authority are planning to submit a further planning application for better NMU provision, which has been a long time coming.
This is quite interesting as while it is near to me and very familiar it is somewhere I have hardly ever driven at peak times. However, I can well imagine that traffic on the A602 heading towards Stevenage tends to queue at the roundabout, probably exacerbated by many of those doing the opposite not indicating left (something Stevenage drivers are notorious for IME).
The issue at this roundabout is worst in the evening peak - essentially, the flow of traffic on the A602 heading from Ware towards Stevenage blocks traffic on the A119 coming from Hertford. I think that a large number of people live in Stevenage and work in Hertford/Ware and the industrial areas down the Lea Valley - the area is quite important in terms of pharma-tech; with GSK and MSD both having plants of significant sizes in the area.
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Re: A602 Stevenage - Ware Proposed Route Enhancements

Post by c2R »

Work is now ongoing - there have been some changes - the roundabout at Watton south is to be enlarged, and not made a signalised crossroads. There is also to be a cycleway between Stony Hills and Sacombe Pound junctions that is contructed off-road. The cycleway will access Sacombe Pound via an underpass (which is a bridge being constructed anyway to carry a brook.

There is a significant amount of realignment between Sacombe Pound and Watton - with the old road being stopped up.

Currently, there are no plans to continue the cycleway off road, to provide safe NMU provision. Very disappointing considering it would be an ideal opportunity to provide a significant amount of off road NMU provision at virtually no cost.
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