The most annoying part of the A303? It's not Stone Henge....
Discussion
Evening.
I've recently been spending some time commuting backwards and forwards along the A303 between Yeovil and Andover.
Anyone who uses the road regulary, or has ever made a trip to the south west for a bank holiday, will know the nightmare that the A303 past Stone Henge can be. But that's not the part of the drive that annoys me, as the timings of my work normally miss the worst of the jams.
What annoys me is the bit south of Warminster, westbound, just before the A350.
Picture the scene almost every day....
Typical slow truck/van/pensioner up front. You are 3 or 4 cars back, and followers 1 & 2 are unable/unwilling to overtake. There is a resulting tailback as you can imagine.
You get to this bit of road.
"Great" you think, "I can get past all of them and have some clear road for the rest of my trip" "It's a steep hill, but I have a PH worthy car. I can make it"
Unfortunatly not. Because some fk nugget thought it would be a good idea to put a speed camera half way up the hill!
So you can get past a couple of cars, then have to slow down, wait, pass the camera, and then complete your overtake on the remaining steep part of the hill with no momentum.
Stupid, stupid bit of road!
Anyone else have an extra annoying camera localy?
I've recently been spending some time commuting backwards and forwards along the A303 between Yeovil and Andover.
Anyone who uses the road regulary, or has ever made a trip to the south west for a bank holiday, will know the nightmare that the A303 past Stone Henge can be. But that's not the part of the drive that annoys me, as the timings of my work normally miss the worst of the jams.
What annoys me is the bit south of Warminster, westbound, just before the A350.
Picture the scene almost every day....
Typical slow truck/van/pensioner up front. You are 3 or 4 cars back, and followers 1 & 2 are unable/unwilling to overtake. There is a resulting tailback as you can imagine.
You get to this bit of road.
"Great" you think, "I can get past all of them and have some clear road for the rest of my trip" "It's a steep hill, but I have a PH worthy car. I can make it"
Unfortunatly not. Because some fk nugget thought it would be a good idea to put a speed camera half way up the hill!
So you can get past a couple of cars, then have to slow down, wait, pass the camera, and then complete your overtake on the remaining steep part of the hill with no momentum.
Stupid, stupid bit of road!
Anyone else have an extra annoying camera localy?
Edited by JordanTurbo on Tuesday 26th April 19:36
You have my sympathy, I guess you'll change your tune in about two weeks time when it turns into a complete shambles as names such as 'pegasus' 'Eldis' and 'Swift' grace that stretch of road.
I'm sure that in the middle of the night, in the middle of maybe March, there's a bit of fun to be had, and some of the views are impressive.
I'll stick to the flow of the M4/M5.
I'm sure that in the middle of the night, in the middle of maybe March, there's a bit of fun to be had, and some of the views are impressive.
I'll stick to the flow of the M4/M5.
Jezzerh said:
Mabbs9 said:
I hate where fences block the view approaching one of the roundabouts. I assume to force traffic to slow almost to a stop before entering. Totally removing the benefit of a roundabout.
God, this. road engineering dumbed down to the lowest ability level. Sad really. Somebody did me a favour many years ago & triggered that speed camera one night, aren't half bright aren't they!
Was just after it went in & I didn't know it was there despite doing Salisbury-Exeter regularly back then.
Love the 303 when it's quiet, sadly that's almost never these days
Was just after it went in & I didn't know it was there despite doing Salisbury-Exeter regularly back then.
Love the 303 when it's quiet, sadly that's almost never these days
tobinen said:
I use that bit fairly regularly. I've always assumed the dual carriageway is 70 MPH limit but I usually pass at low 60s. Is it 70 MPH?
If you are referring to the bit where it is three lanes it ain't a dual carriageway. Dual carriageways have to have some sort of dividing strip between the carriageways.Johnnytheboy said:
The new version of the roundabout just west of stonehenge is quite irritating, as most people drift across two of the three lanes, negating its design purpose.
Yes. That is probably the most annoying part of my eastbound morning commute.I normally use the center lane on approach to the roundabout, to bypass the many drivers who que in the left lane. Then have to make sure I'm not alongside anyone, to avoid being cut up as I go across.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I've recently started playing "hide & seek" with the camera if there is a decent length truck available in lane 1.By timing the overtake so that the the lorry is always between me and the camera on the way up.
marshall100 said:
You have my sympathy, I guess you'll change your tune in about two weeks time when it turns into a complete shambles as names such as 'pegasus' 'Eldis' and 'Swift' grace that stretch of road.
You can add Coachman to your list of caravan names (mine has a Canadian flag sticker on the back) but don't worry, I'm a local so can skirt round Countess roundabout and Stonehenge without adding to the traffic.CrutyRammers said:
Beati Dogu said:
The section in Somerset I think it is used to have a common overtaking lane, AKA a suicide lane. That was bloody scary. Now it alternates sides at least.
Yeah that bit used to scare me, even as a crazy youngster.The A303 can be a nice road. It can also be hellish, but I generally prefer it to the monotony of the M4.
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