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Chris5156 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 27, 2022 17:38
The A3 Hindhead Tunnel ... Before the tunnel was built the A3 was an all day car park both ways through Hindhead
Part of this was installing a grade separated junction north of the tunnel with the minor road to Thursley which I used several times a year, just here :
Previously it was a flat right turn across continuous 70mph oncoming traffic, particularly challenging in the dark, plus manoeuvring to the outside lane to make the turn. You can still see the remnants of the turn lane in the central reservation.
Jim606 wrote: ↑Wed Apr 27, 2022 20:35
I'd have to say the A1 roundabout removals during the early 2000s. All of them made a difference, but Apleyhead A57/A614 put an end to the queuing traffic and the line of caravan/burger vans which were a feature of the roundabout for many years beforehand. You just whizz past now without even knowing the previous situation. As mentioned by other people, Bramham to Wetherby and the Ferrybridge A1(M) upgrades also made a huge difference to journey times.
On a smaller scale, cycling infrastructure has improved greatly in the last twenty years.
Agree. Used to travel up to York from Herts regularly from the mid 90s onwards, and remember Apleyhead and Blyth in particular being snarled up a lot of the time. A10 bypass of the villages between Ware and Puckeridge also made a big difference.
Opened up access to Guildford and Farnham from north-east Hampshire, replacing the twisty-turny route along the A324 through the ranges - bypassing several towns and villages on both sides, as well as Runfold at the bottom.
It's just such a pity that roundabouts at both ends and in the middle are festooned with 24/7 traffic lights, which (I'm convinced) cause congestion and delays - IMHO, peak hour would be fine but is apparently against policy. And also subject to "environmental" 50mph limits for chunks of its length.
In the last two decades, nothing really. The M40 junction 4, did provide a free flow from the A404 to M40 northbound, but as they did not widened the bridge to the south, the slip road starts to late and at peak times the queue still goes down the hill!!
The Shinfield and Arborfield bypasses have opened on the A327 but both are 50mph roads the latter for no reason and no overtaking opportunities have been provided. On both refuges have been provided in the middle of the road. So if you are stuck behind a lorry you can not get past. Both could have been S2 +1 to assist, that is why I like the Welsh bypasses.
The A322 widening between Twin Bridges and Easthampstead roundabout was done on the cheap and increased the number of signals of the main alternative route from the M25 south to M4 West.
The A329 south of Coppid Beach had a roundabout slammed in a middle of a dual carriageway.
The Winnersh by pass, has a lower speed limit 30 mph then the A329 Reading Road, 40 mph, through the village and has more signals so quicker to stay on the old road.
So in my opinion the network has not been improved.
And the M4 Smart Motorway has lane drops at every junction part from J7 and J4, so not as planned and sold. Junction 5 through the junction has been left as it was with the same smorgasbord of lighting and barriers. It just looks weird that in 32 miles of smartification this relic from the 60s has been just left!
For me as a citizen of the village of Collin on the A75 3 miles east of Dumfries the biggest improvement has obviously been the D2 bypass of the village in the late 70's.
I can remember standing at the bar of the old Stagecoach Inn and seeing my pint literally dance across the bar whenever a convoy of trucks went past only a couple of feet away.
The day it opened the improvement to village life was imeasureable, though sadly the Stagecoach is no longer there, replaced now by a travellers site.
For me the opening of the Medway Tunnel and the rest of the Medway Towns Northern relief road (today's A289). It has had a massive effect on the towns as a whole in the 20 years since it's completion with much regeneration and development along it's corridors and cross town journey times being halved in many cases. even 20 years on it's coping well with traffic levels. A few local improvements are taking place in anticipation of future growth along the route and without it and a widened M2, journeys around the Medway towns would be dire to say the least.
Ben302 wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 20:47
For me the opening of the Medway Tunnel and the rest of the Medway Towns Northern relief road (today's A289). It has had a massive effect on the towns as a whole in the 20 years since it's completion with much regeneration and development along it's corridors and cross town journey times being halved in many cases. even 20 years on it's coping well with traffic levels. A few local improvements are taking place in anticipation of future growth along the route and without it and a widened M2, journeys around the Medway towns would be dire to say the least.
Much the same used to happen at Tempsford before it was improved about 30 years ago. The old southbound carriageway of the A1 was here.
Many have mentioned the A1(M) upgrade through North Yorkshire and I agree, but equally important I felt was the M1 - A1 link east of Leeds. I remember during the 90s, trying to get from the A1 southbound to the M62 westbound towards Liverpool and Manchester involved either taking the A64 or A58 through Leeds to get the the M621, or taking the A642 through Garforth and Swillington, or even continuing down the A1 to Ferrybridge which was massive detour! Plus continuing down the M1 South was way easier than the A1 Redhouse/Darlington section and the roundabout at the M18!
The fixing of Selly Oak Triangle (A38/A4040/B384/B3800) would probably have been the most relevant upgrade for me if it happened a little earlier. Since the pandemic started, though, I've hardly been travelling, and in fact haven't had the opportunity to go through the new junction since it opened (even though I used to use it – or use rat-runs to avoid it – pretty much every day). The old version was bad enough that I nominated it for CBRD's Bad Junctions. (My favourite fact about the old version of the junction – I checked every nontrivial road sign there (i.e. not just a standard circle or triangle diagram) when bored one New Year's Day, and found only one that contained no botches, with many of them being obviously bad in multiple respects. It was also the only junction where I ever had a near miss as a pedestrian – hopefully the sequencing of the pedestrian signals has been fixed, although of course I haven't been over there to verify.)
Out of road improvements I've actually used, I think I have to say Catthorpe Interchange. Everyone reading this thread already knows how much better the new version is than the old one, so there's not much point in elaborating.
Traffic lights on some of the A4174/A420 roundabout about 12 years ago. Previously the queues at busy times when heading south on the A4174 could be back almost as far as the next roundabout, about half a mile. Now (pre-Covid as well) it's rarely more than a couple of cycles of the lights. The are no lights when approaching from the east on the A420, this is the access I use the most and it seems to just work ok
Sheffield's new Inner Ring Road has already been mentioned, but for local journeys, it was a game-changer. The more recent widening works to the middle section of it have also led to a slight improvement in traffic flow, although the choice of lane layout whereby the right lane widens to become D3 rather than the left lane, sending the unfamiliar off towards Meadowhall is bizarre IMO.
For longer journeys, the opening of the A555 has made journeys towards the airport and Cheshire/North Wales/Merseyside easier, offering an alternative to the chronically congested Mottram Moor. I know the residents of the villages along the A6 have their reservations about the road but it is a more reliable run than the A57/M67/M60 route, or a lot of narrow country lane rat runs we had to use previously.
As for a negative, the continual messing around with Westwood roundabout (A61/A616), which remains a headache when trying to travel north. It has now been fully signalised, which doesn't appear to have improved traffic flow but has now created a more confusing lane layout meaning that you need to have your wits about you when navigating it to avoid those who drift across into your path trying to reach their chosen exit.
Small cost for good return is the A141 j/o A605 at Rings End near March. It used to be an uncontrolled junction of two NSL roads with a poor accident record. Locals were always banging on about the need for a roundabout but a set of traffic lights and reduction to 50mph has given big results.
Bigger cost is the A47/A10/A149 junction at Kings Lynn. Naysayers said the design wasn’t right but if you’re A47 through traffic or A47 to A10 then it’s been a good improvement. I’m not sure anything will solve the seasonal holiday queues on the A149.
Nationally ? I’d vote for the 50mph HGV limit .
Without a doubt the biggest improvement to the road network over the last couple of decades around these parts has to be the A78 “Three Towns” bypass which opened in 2004. I remember as a youngster passing through Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston regularly to reach places like Irvine. The new bypass felt like a rollercoaster by comparison and I remember me and my sister getting excited in the car every time we went on it.
The Carlisle Northern Development route, it has shaved 20 minutes off a journey to Scotland by removing the need to use the A595 and A7 through Carlisle, and makes access to places like the Kingstown Industrial Estate and Cargo vastly easier.
Nationally it has to be the A19 between Testos and the Silverlink for me. It's mad to think that as recently as the early 2010s that stretch had 4 roundabouts and a single carriageway tunnel.
Locally I'd say the B4231 in Bream. As a youngster I vaguely remember us taking my dad to Lydney station when he worked in Gloucester and we would often get stuck along that stretch due to how narrow the old road was.
The newer section has been open for over 20 years now and is much better.
British & Irish cities driven in - 48/75
England - 36/52, Scotland - 7/7, Wales - 5/6, NI - 0/5, RoI - 0/5
In terms of my regular journeys, not a lot has changed for me in 20 years, as little has changed in London over that period, but I did like the changes to the Henlys Corner junction on the A406, which have made turning right from Golders Green onto the A406/A1 a LOT less stressful. It was pretty dangerous before.
Another vote for Newark-Widmerpool A46 from me. I don't personally use the road that much but been there's a paucity of significant road schemes in this area, certainly since I passed my test in 2009.
As a new driver passing my test in October 1982 the opening of the M25 in Essex had a huge effect on Brentwood town centre traffic and traffic on the A128 which went near my house. Prior to that, my instructor had me practice my clutch work on the queue up to Wilsons Corner (the A128/A1023 junction with its three-phase lights). After 40 years the increase on traffic generally is now backing things up from the Town Centre and down the A128 again, I understand.
I left in 1988 and moved to South London. There is nothing to report there really and no space to improve anything. I don't commute by car or drive for work so it is only the weekends or holidays. I have driven the South West a lot so the improvements to the A30 in Devon and Cornwall have been the most welcome. To counter that, children meant I had to take such holidays in the School holidays and the continuing A303 saga and in particular the Stonehenge one will keep me entertained no doubt until I'm going for a final journey to a warm place.