Impossible (?) Road Improvements

[Glenn A]

Someone seriously suggested this once on Border Lookaround in 1986, replace Castle Way in Carlisle with a tunnel and grass over the existing road. I don't know if the person who was interviewed on the programme( I think he was a city councillor) realised that this would be extremely expensive to replace half a mile of OK urban D2 and would actually do nothing for Carlisle's rush hour traffic problem as the traffic would have to re emerge at Hardwicke Circus.

[Dumblehole Lane]

M49 - North south link for Wales and Midlands bypass. Being at the time bang in the middle of the route for such a thing, this was a bit of a recurring nightmare when I was younger. Imagined it taking out our farm. (See also Woofferton New Town, which was a briefly posited idea in the postwar years).

Less unlikely - M7 from the north end of the A74(M) at Douglas to Livingston and the M8.

[KeithW]

Well having driven along that road more than once there are some problems with the idea of a tunnel for Carlisle

driving east north east
1) - There is a bridge over the River Caldew and the railway
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.8955159 ... &entry=ttu

Look to the left and there is the main access to the Castle.
https://www.google.com/maps/@54.8962222 ... &entry=ttu

The Castle is Grade 1 listed and has been there for around 900 years and parts date back to the Roman era so its not just a matter of building a cut and cover trench, every archaeologist in the region would want his share of the action

2) Last but not least its hardly a congestion hot spot ! Church Street and Wigton Road are where the jams form to the south but the real hot spot is north of the River Eden along the A7

What is really needed is to get on with the much discussed southern link road to take traffic from M6 J42 to the A595 / A596 to the west instead of sending traffic through the city via the A7 and over the Eden.

[trickstat]

Seatoller to Wasdale Head expressway. You'd just need a nice big cutting through Great Gable

Reminds me that there are two small villages called Seathwaite in the Lake District. According to Google they are 44 miles apart by road or 14 rather mountainous miles on foot or bike.

[Bryn666]

...
Black Hole Regeneration Route
...

The M65 opened decades ago - you must have noticed .

Go on then - A646 bypass tunnels for Todmorden and Hebden Bridge. Geology and budget would be minor problems compared with the opposition of the local traders, I would expect.

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.

[Ritchie333]

Monmouth is easily fixable. Stop up the roads either side of the traffic lights, pedestrian access only to the bridge over the Wye. Build a new link road and bridge over the line of the old railway to connect the A466/A4136 with the B4293/A40 to the south west, grade separate the A40/A466 roundabout to the north. Job done!

Engineering wise, that's certainly doable, however there are two things that mean it won't happen. Firstly, a new bridge over the Wye will be needed, which is bound to generate complaints about the environment when the new one is built. Secondly, all A466 and A4136 traffic will get rerouted through the centre of Monmouth, while currently it avoids as much as is practical.

Indeed, I'd say a more likely candidate for construction is an A466 eastern bypass, linking the Dixton Road roundabout to the road to north somewhere, and taking all through traffic completely out of the town.

[higgie]

1) Extend the Blackwall Tunnel route down past Kidbrooke and onto a dualled A20.
2) extend A2 past Kidbrooke onto the proposed New Cross spur.
3) link the lower Thames Crossing with M25 M26 to support more traffic going out to it.

[SteelCamel]

Relocating the A82 Ft William town centre bypass which currently cuts the town off from the waterfront.
It would need either a tunnel, which will never happen, or a road high up above the town although how you’d get it back down again at the north end without an enormous viaduct around the entrance to Glen Nevis I’ve no idea.

Think bigger. Re-route the A82 onto the A830 at Lochybridge. Branch south after Corpach docks and the timber yard, and bridge Ferry Narrows onto the A861. Upgrade the A861 as far as Corran, then bridge the Corran Narrows back onto the existing A82. Also solves the Corran Ferry issues while you're there.

Or why not bigger still? A new link along Loch Laidon and Loch Treig would nicely bypass Fort William, and doesn't look too difficult to build.

[rileyrob]

Relocating the A82 Ft William town centre bypass which currently cuts the town off from the waterfront.
It would need either a tunnel, which will never happen, or a road high up above the town although how you’d get it back down again at the north end without an enormous viaduct around the entrance to Glen Nevis I’ve no idea.

Think bigger. Re-route the A82 onto the A830 at Lochybridge. Branch south after Corpach docks and the timber yard, and bridge Ferry Narrows onto the A861. Upgrade the A861 as far as Corran, then bridge the Corran Narrows back onto the existing A82. Also solves the Corran Ferry issues while you're there.

Or why not bigger still? A new link along Loch Laidon and Loch Treig would nicely bypass Fort William, and doesn't look too difficult to build.

There was an idea floating around locally a few years ago about tunnelling under the Devils Staircase, then curving across the hillside above Kinlochleven into the Lairig Mor, before cutting behind Cow Hill and across the mouth of Glen Nevis to rejoin the A82 somewhere near Torlundy.
An alternative was to push an inclined tunnel through from North Ballachulish to upper Glen Righ, then much as above.

I think both were seriously tongue in cheek - the cost would have been astronomical with long tunnels and viaducts needed to minimise gradients. The Caol Link Road would solve a lot of the congestion problems in and around Fort William, but trying to improve the section through Onich is probably impossible without large scale CPOs on gardens and a few houses, and the narrowest bit is where the Onich Hotel stands on the roadside. Corran to the West End Roundabout is doable, some bits would be very simple to fix, fell a few scrubby trees and widen the road, but the bit just north of Corran where the road is built up on the shore below a cliff not so easy.

[FleetlinePhil]

...
Black Hole Regeneration Route
...

The M65 opened decades ago - you must have noticed .

Go on then - A646 bypass tunnels for Todmorden and Hebden Bridge. Geology and budget would be minor problems compared with the opposition of the local traders, I would expect.

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.

I used to dream of putting the A646 on stilts through Hebden Bridge, which would be demolished and flooded between the top of the gradient at Commercial Street and the equivalent level on the climb out at the other end of town, forming a nice wildlife refuge for diving ducks...funny what driving a bus does for your mental state !

[xnx]

Various A5 spots west of M42 to M1 thanks to the tin sheds at Baddersley, Grendon house development, Nuneaton houses, Lutterworth industrial and Rugby more tin sheds but future expect housing the other side. I should get shares in the 50mph/40mph/new roundabout ahead sign factory:-) This road was not to bad to about 2000 when development started to interfere.

A27 Lancing/Worthing - the impossible part will be no tunnel funding/never ending environment concerns.

A55 roundabouts removal west of Conwy/A55 bridge replacement - impossible being the Welsh government though the guy who stopped improvements has caught the last bus from the Sennedd office!

[SteveM]

Extend M27 from Hilsea to A3M. Oh, sorry, hard shoulder is 600mm too narrow at the railway bridge if I recall correctly.

[Kinitawowi]

Chapelgate to South Wootton, providing additional crossings for the Nene and Great Ouse north of Kings Lynn and making sure that any more emergency repairs to Cross Keys don't result in a 20 mile diversion again.

Never gonna happen on environmental grounds.

[Bryn666]

Extend M27 from Hilsea to A3M. Oh, sorry, hard shoulder is 600mm too narrow at the railway bridge if I recall correctly.

It's absolutely ridiculous someone ever said this was a reason, otherwise the M6 at Lancaster couldn't be a motorway either because the hard shoulder stops at every bridge. This always struck me as an urban legend that's gained traction; the real reason appears to be nobody bothered to file the correct paperwork to allow the Havant Bypass extension to be a motorway and nothing much else.

It's especially dumb when you consider the then A1 north of what is now J45 squeezes under a bridge minus hard shoulders where it was widened in 1992. It's now a motorway...

[wrinkly]

Deleted - xnx already mentioned Worthing.

[Herned]

It's absolutely ridiculous someone ever said this was a reason, otherwise the M6 at Lancaster couldn't be a motorway either because the hard shoulder stops at every bridge. This always struck me as an urban legend that's gained traction; the real reason appears to be nobody bothered to file the correct paperwork to allow the Havant Bypass extension to be a motorway and nothing much else.

It's especially dumb when you consider the then A1 north of what is now J45 squeezes under a bridge minus hard shoulders where it was widened in 1992. It's now a motorway...

It's especially dumb as the M27 immediately west doesn't have a hard shoulder, the motorway ends and then the road regains a hard shoulder after the onslips

[owen b]

Extend M27 from Hilsea to A3M. Oh, sorry, hard shoulder is 600mm too narrow at the railway bridge if I recall correctly.

It's absolutely ridiculous someone ever said this was a reason, otherwise the M6 at Lancaster couldn't be a motorway either because the hard shoulder stops at every bridge. This always struck me as an urban legend that's gained traction; the real reason appears to be nobody bothered to file the correct paperwork to allow the Havant Bypass extension to be a motorway and nothing much else.

It's especially dumb when you consider the then A1 north of what is now J45 squeezes under a bridge minus hard shoulders where it was widened in 1992. It's now a motorway...

Which reminds me of the impossibility of having three running lanes northbound through A1(M) J51 (Leeming Bar).

[Owain]

Extend M27 from Hilsea to A3M. Oh, sorry, hard shoulder is 600mm too narrow at the railway bridge if I recall correctly.

It's absolutely ridiculous someone ever said this was a reason, otherwise the M6 at Lancaster couldn't be a motorway either because the hard shoulder stops at every bridge. This always struck me as an urban legend that's gained traction; the real reason appears to be nobody bothered to file the correct paperwork to allow the Havant Bypass extension to be a motorway and nothing much else.

It's especially dumb when you consider the then A1 north of what is now J45 squeezes under a bridge minus hard shoulders where it was widened in 1992. It's now a motorway...

Not to mention the various urban motorways, with all their little quirks!

[PixelDubs]

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.

[swissferry]

A new link along Loch Laidon and Loch Treig would nicely bypass Fort William, and doesn't look too difficult to build.

There are quite steep slopes above Loch Treig. Don't think Ken Smith would be too happy about it.