Biggest improvement personally

The study of British and Irish roads - their construction, numbering, history, mapping, past and future official roads proposals and general roads musings.

There is a separate forum for Street Furniture (traffic lights, street lights, road signs etc).

Registered users get access to other forums including discussions about other forms of transport, driving, fantasy roads and wishlists, and roads quizzes.

Moderator: Site Management Team

pjr10th
Member
Posts: 194
Joined: Wed Jun 03, 2020 23:35

Biggest improvement personally

Post by pjr10th »

SABRE users, time for a bit of positivity.

What has been the biggest improvement to your local network in the last two decades? Might be something minor like a protected turn at a traffic light which makes your commute slightly easier, or a major thing like a new junction or bypass?
User avatar
Ruperts Trooper
Member
Posts: 12031
Joined: Sun Jun 17, 2012 13:43
Location: Huntingdonshire originally, but now Staffordshire

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by Ruperts Trooper »

The biggest improvement in my locality is the opening of the A5 Tamworth by-pass, formally known as Fazeley, Two Gates and Wilnecote Bypass although the widening of the M42 Jct 10 northbound off-slip from 2 to 5 lanes runs a close second.
Lifelong motorhead
User avatar
Big L
Deputy Site Manager
Posts: 7517
Joined: Sun Nov 14, 2010 20:36
Location: B5012

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by Big L »

M6 Toll.
Make poetry history.

Did you know there's more to SABRE than just the Forums?
Help with maps using the new online calibrator.
Add your roads knowledge to the SABRE Wiki.
User avatar
c2R
SABRE Wiki admin
Posts: 11162
Joined: Fri Jul 05, 2002 11:01

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by c2R »

A14 Huntington to Cambridge hands down.

And then I moved away!
Is there a road improvement project going on near you? Help us to document it on the SABRE Wiki - help is available in the Digest forum.
Have you browsed SABRE Maps recently? Get involved! - see our guide to scanning and stitching maps
User avatar
Bryn666
Elected Committee Member
Posts: 35755
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2002 20:54
Contact:

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by Bryn666 »

The M65 opening in 1997 was an absolute game changer for everything growing up. Probably not the biggest personal improvement but definitely the biggest improvement for Blackburn, which the local authority then squandered, but that's another story.
Bryn
Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already.
She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.

Blog - https://showmeasign.online/
X - https://twitter.com/ShowMeASignBryn
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@BrynBuck
Rob590
Member
Posts: 787
Joined: Thu Dec 20, 2007 11:21

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by Rob590 »

A1(M) conversion to three lanes in North Yorkshire. That stretch of road may be dull but it is so easy to drive. A relief between narrow A1/A1(M) in Durham and South Yorkshire.

On a smaller scale, the re-design and signalling of Leazes Bowl and Milburngate junctions on the A690 in Durham have made the flow of traffic on my side of the city much more reliable, with much shorter rush hour queues
User avatar
ravenbluemoon
Committee Member
Posts: 3042
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:32
Location: Between Mansfield and Göteborg

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by ravenbluemoon »

Locally, the A46 dualling has been quite a game changer. The A1-Lincoln stretch always used to be a stinker until it was dualled, now it seems to take no time at all. The Widmerpool to Newark bit is also a great bit of road compared to the old "40mph behind a truck/tractor/Doris" S2. When I worked in Nottingham I'd go the back roads via Southwell in order to avoid it. Nowadays it's a no-brainer to get over to Saxondale Island and onto the A46. Fingers crossed for the Newark Bypass upgrades.

An honourable mention for the A617 Mansfield bypass. Ok, I'll often give it grief as it's woefully underspecced for what it should be. But it made travel times a bit more reliable on my old commute, and saved me having to "rat-run" to get across town.
Tony Alice (they,them)
~~~~~
Owner of a classic rust heap/money pit, and other unremarkable older vehicles.
Usually found with a head in an old map or road atlas.

Did you know there's more to SABRE than just the Forums?
Add your roads knowledge to the SABRE Wiki today!
Have you browsed SABRE Maps recently? Ask me if you want to get involved!

Gaz909909
Member
Posts: 228
Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2022 07:47

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by Gaz909909 »

A30 Blackwater bypass and the new Chivvy Roundabout. Circa 1989. Totally rewrote times of arrival across Cornwall. After that you can throw in Indian Queens, Goss Moor and Temple. I would say between them they have shaved about an hour or more off a journey from Penzance to Exeter. Even more in the summer.
Sulzer:1999
Member
Posts: 392
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2012 21:34
Location: Kincardine O' Neil, Aboyne, Aberdeenshire

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by Sulzer:1999 »

AWPR, without a doubt. Outwith the last two decades criteria for this thread for me personally though would have been the straightening of the B979 Stonehaven to Maryculter road at Netherley in 1989. The route previously took dog legs through a farm and adjacent fields & was a real improvement on a busy route.
Also just sprung to mind was the bypassing of another farm at Mains of Drum on the A93 near Drumoak around this time, this followed the tragic death of two young drivers whom I had been to school with.There had been other accidents at this bend, including one well known local character who had come off the road & rolled into a field. When recovering his vehicle he discovered that someone had stolen his Daniel O’Donnel cassettes and for some reason apportioned blame on my 17 year old brother…
Murray Duncan
WHBM
Member
Posts: 9707
Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 18:01
Location: London

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by WHBM »

Biggest improvement : Limehouse Link/A13, giving a new through route from Tower Bridge to the M25. Opened progressively but last bit in 2005.

Biggest negative : Putting the cycleway on The Embankment in London, which has created congestion all day, and often well into the night, as well.
User avatar
skiddaw05
Member
Posts: 2036
Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 21:33
Location: Norwich

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by skiddaw05 »

Completion of the A11 dualling with the Elveden bypass

And, though I hate to admit it, the Norwich northern bypass (aka the NDR, A1270 or Broadland Northway) is proving very useful
User avatar
KeithW
Member
Posts: 19205
Joined: Thu Dec 04, 2014 13:25
Location: Marton-In-Cleveland North Yorks

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by KeithW »

A1(M) Wetherby to Leeming Bar without a doubt , it turned what was a narrow D2 road with side accesses into a pleasure to drive and replaced the horrible old round about interchange for the M62 into a rather nice GSJ

All they need too do now is the Doncaster Bypass and Redhouse to Darrington :)
User avatar
orudge
Site Manager
Posts: 8261
Joined: Sun May 27, 2007 12:23
Location: Banchory
Contact:

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by orudge »

Sulzer:1999 wrote: Tue Apr 26, 2022 00:05 AWPR, without a doubt.
Same here. Despite the dodgy junctions and so on, it's still a very impressive piece of road and makes getting around much easier.
User avatar
Ritchie333
Assistant Site Manager
Posts: 11765
Joined: Tue May 20, 2003 20:40
Location: Ashford, Kent
Contact:

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by Ritchie333 »

In the last 20 years, it's probably East Kent Access, involving substantial upgrades to the A299 and A256 and making access to Thanet much easier (or, if you prefer, much easier to get away from). Shame the A28 north of the A299 towards Birchington got kitted out with 50mph SPECS, but them's the breaks.

Beyond the next two decades, the M20 being completed between junctions 8 and 9. At one point, going to Folkestone for a continental ferry in the summer in the mid-1980s, I thought it was never going to be finished.
--
SABRE Maps - all the best maps in one place....
tom66
Member
Posts: 821
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2016 16:47

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by tom66 »

The improvements of the A14 around Cambridge & towards Huntingdon. I moved here after they were done but as I understand it, it was a bloody awful and congested road beforehand.
User avatar
Helvellyn
Member
Posts: 24664
Joined: Tue Apr 04, 2006 22:31
Location: High Peak

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by Helvellyn »

How local's local? I've only lived in my current house for seven years. In the wider area (not that I go that way all that often) the widening of the south western parts of the M60 helped a bit. Further afield, but on a route I used to travel very regularly, removing the short two lane stretches of the M6 at J32 helped a lot.
NICK 647063
Member
Posts: 1717
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2004 17:48
Location: Leeds

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by NICK 647063 »

Definitely the A1(M) M62 to A66, previously narrow D2, often congested around Wetherby, I spent my daily work trip stuck on it, using where the D3M drop back to D2 at Walshford, then further north it had tractors, trucks side by side, property access, pedestrians and often either closed by accidents or just congestion!

Now it’s fantastic although some might say dull trust me after getting stuck daily on the old D2 it’s absolutely fantastic, a massive improvement!
User avatar
Chris Bertram
Member
Posts: 15744
Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2001 12:30
Location: Birmingham, England

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by Chris Bertram »

I've appreciated A1(M) Dishforth to Leeming and Leeming to Barton on my regular visits to the NE. The A1 was a bit undercapacity and dicey in other ways too. Looking forward to Darrington to Red House whenever that gets the go-ahead, but the older bits of A1(M) now look like the weak links.
“The quality of any advice anybody has to offer has to be judged against the quality of life they actually lead.” - Douglas Adams.

Did you know there's more to SABRE than just the Forums?
Add your roads knowledge to the SABRE Wiki today!
Have you browsed SABRE Maps recently? Try getting involved!
User avatar
owen b
Member
Posts: 9861
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2003 15:22
Location: Luton

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by owen b »

Chris Bertram wrote: Tue Apr 26, 2022 18:09 I've appreciated A1(M) Dishforth to Leeming and Leeming to Barton on my regular visits to the NE. The A1 was a bit undercapacity and dicey in other ways too. Looking forward to Darrington to Red House whenever that gets the go-ahead, but the older bits of A1(M) now look like the weak links.
Yes, I did most of the A1 / A1(M) yesterday southbound (Edinburgh to Black Cat). There were no fewer than four lots of roadworks between north of Newcastle and Scotch Corner : the NW section of the Newcastle bypass, around the Angel of the North junction, between J61 and J60, and then on the Darlington bypass stretch. Most of that section is still D2 or D2M and generally busy, so the modern mostly D3M stretch from Scotch Corner to Darrington without roadworks or delays came as a relief. After Darrington it was back to the congestion of D2 and D2M with added dodginess from flat junctions at many points, but my experience is that the County Durham and M62 - M18 sections are the highest priority for additional capacity now.
Owen
DavidBrown
Member
Posts: 8398
Joined: Sun May 29, 2005 00:35

Re: Biggest improvement personally

Post by DavidBrown »

Bit more of a local scheme than many others are mentioning, but the A361 Barnstaple western bypass was a game changer when it opened in 2007. There's no doubt that traffic levels have grown significantly along with new developments, as per usual, but with only a few tweaks needed at a couple of junctions since, things have remained remarkably smooth, and long gone are the days of it taking 2 hours to cross town in a wet school holiday!
Post Reply