BEWARE new lane markings at J10 on A329(M)
Discussion
The Road sign planners at the revised junction of the A329(M) and the M4
They have made the A329(M) entry points from the M4 ( both ways) so there is a dedicated lane now and the A329(M) is one lane between the M4 exit points and the M4 entry points
There are lane markings of sorts starting with the normal middle lane dashes which change to thicker ones the LH lane is for the M4 East and West and the RH lane for the A329(M)
About 50 metres from the northbound M4 lane on the A329(M) coming to a halt the is just one small yellow side of road sign showing the lane dedications.
So what happens A Transit van in LH lane who hasnt noticed this suddenly puts on his anchors in LH lane and cuts across to RH lane luckily no traffic coming up in RH lane
This situation is going to happen until Sally traffic comes on R2 advising of a fatal.
It really needs humugous signs 200m before these lane marking changes to say GET IN LANE LH lane M4 BOTH WAYS or EAST AND WEST and RH LANE READING (going north on the A329(M) and BRACKNELL A329(M) south
They might well be the same ones who have designed oe of the best death traps i have seen in many a year at the redesigned Coppid Beech Raounabout at the bottom of the A329(M) if you ar heading to Wokingham along the A329 look at the LH sid verge. IT is about 2ft wide with a 10ft drop into a gully, beautifully landscaped as well. One day someone is going to overcook it and Sally traffic will have another reoprt.
How are these imbeciles allowed out of the secure unit to think these up??????
They have made the A329(M) entry points from the M4 ( both ways) so there is a dedicated lane now and the A329(M) is one lane between the M4 exit points and the M4 entry points
There are lane markings of sorts starting with the normal middle lane dashes which change to thicker ones the LH lane is for the M4 East and West and the RH lane for the A329(M)
About 50 metres from the northbound M4 lane on the A329(M) coming to a halt the is just one small yellow side of road sign showing the lane dedications.
So what happens A Transit van in LH lane who hasnt noticed this suddenly puts on his anchors in LH lane and cuts across to RH lane luckily no traffic coming up in RH lane
This situation is going to happen until Sally traffic comes on R2 advising of a fatal.
It really needs humugous signs 200m before these lane marking changes to say GET IN LANE LH lane M4 BOTH WAYS or EAST AND WEST and RH LANE READING (going north on the A329(M) and BRACKNELL A329(M) south
They might well be the same ones who have designed oe of the best death traps i have seen in many a year at the redesigned Coppid Beech Raounabout at the bottom of the A329(M) if you ar heading to Wokingham along the A329 look at the LH sid verge. IT is about 2ft wide with a 10ft drop into a gully, beautifully landscaped as well. One day someone is going to overcook it and Sally traffic will have another reoprt.
How are these imbeciles allowed out of the secure unit to think these up??????
Are you Peter West? http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire...
The Copid Beech roundabout does look a bit dodgy with the new slope down to the fence & trees but to be honest, they have made the roundabout and exit bigger and easier to use with 2 lanes coming down to 1 off the roundabout. I've never seen a car go off there before so with the extra space, I see no reason why anyone would now.
Puggit said:
Are you Peter West? http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire...
That would be me then.Not often you encounter such abysmal signage and road layout - presumably another failure for Wokingham Council.
It took at least one fatality and numerous close shaves for them to even put central crash barriers on that stretch!
In comparison the roadworks heading up towards the Coral Reef roundabout have clear signage with plenty of warning.
Rant over.
Cheers, Pewe.
Exactly the post i was going to start. It seems bonkers to me and I'm struggling to see the actual point of what they did. Its a bloody accident waiting to happen and no doubt the planners clearly hate drivers. I can see a couple of accidents there and then a kneejerk 50mph extension from jennetts parks all the way to the M4.
Exactly the post i was going to start. It seems bonkers to me and I'm struggling to see the actual point of what they did. Its a bloody accident waiting to happen and no doubt the planners clearly hate drivers. I can see a couple of accidents there and then a kneejerk 50mph extension from jennetts parks all the way to the M4.
RemyMartin said:
Exactly the post i was going to start. It seems bonkers to me and I'm struggling to see the actual point of what they did. Its a bloody accident waiting to happen and no doubt the planners clearly hate drivers. I can see a couple of accidents there and then a kneejerk 50mph extension from jennetts parks all the way to the M4.
That is probably there end game. If they wanted a dedicated M4 lane, they should have added a third lane from the coppid beach roundabout to the M4. Would have cost more, but actually done the job rather than creating another potential source of accidents. WhiteAMG
This is the reply i got from Wokingham Council about that potential fatality spot
In regards to the Coppid bech roundabout no barrier is included in the design for this area. The designs were subject to both Stage 1 & 2 safety audits which were undertaken before construction commenced on site, the safety audits did not raise any concerns regarding this area and proposed design. The works will also be subject to a Stage 3 safety audit once completed. A further Stage 4 safety audit will also form part of the on-going monitoring of the scheme.
It is a very “artificial” situation at the moment during the construction of the works, with the traffic management and lane width restrictions, street lighting has yet to be re-established, the new verges are bare (no grass seeding or plant growth compared to what was there originally) and so the area also looks very “open” compared to the dense planting and trees previously in the area.
Sooo they are awaiting the results of another two surveys before realising that a crash barrier IS reaquied. No doubt after some poor sod goes over the edge and gets killed
Weite to Chaira at customerservices@wokigham.gov.uk
The more that we do the quicker they may do something
This is the reply i got from Wokingham Council about that potential fatality spot
In regards to the Coppid bech roundabout no barrier is included in the design for this area. The designs were subject to both Stage 1 & 2 safety audits which were undertaken before construction commenced on site, the safety audits did not raise any concerns regarding this area and proposed design. The works will also be subject to a Stage 3 safety audit once completed. A further Stage 4 safety audit will also form part of the on-going monitoring of the scheme.
It is a very “artificial” situation at the moment during the construction of the works, with the traffic management and lane width restrictions, street lighting has yet to be re-established, the new verges are bare (no grass seeding or plant growth compared to what was there originally) and so the area also looks very “open” compared to the dense planting and trees previously in the area.
Sooo they are awaiting the results of another two surveys before realising that a crash barrier IS reaquied. No doubt after some poor sod goes over the edge and gets killed
Weite to Chaira at customerservices@wokigham.gov.uk
The more that we do the quicker they may do something
silverfoxcc said:
Have you seen the direction sign just before the roundabout on the A329 coming out of Wokingham. To the left The M4 to the left and to the rightand get this A349(M) so from the roundabout to Twin Bridges is now the A349(M) How do these people dress themselves?
So have they renamed/numbered the A329(M) as the A349(M) or have clowns just goofed? RichB said:
So have they renamed/numbered the A329(M) as the A349(M) or have clowns just goofed?
It will be an error by whoever was tasked with making the signs as the A349 is all the way down in Dorset.Edit - added link - http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title...
Below is the reply I received after I moaned about what I think is now a dangerous junction...
Thank you for contacting the Highways England Customer Contact Centre (H.E.C.C.C). Your query has been forwarded to Kier Highways Ltd, we work on behalf of Highways England (formally known as the Highways Agency) and are responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the M4.
The M4 Junction 10 PPP scheme formed part of a national programme of junction improvements to address known safety issues relating to junction capacity and the risks associated with traffic queuing on high speed motorways and trunk roads. The scheme involved the widening of the existing slip roads and creation of a free flow lane, improvements to the verges and embankments and provision of new warning, information and advance direction signs.
In order to achieve the free flow configuration of the slip roads from the M4 to the A329(M) the latter was reduced to a single lane by way of introducing a lane drop at the M4 entry slip roads. This lane being gained again when the M4 exit slips re-join the A329(M)
Traffic modelling during the design process confirmed that the single lane maintained sufficient capacity to accommodate peak flows of traffic. Construction of the new road layout was completed during the weekend of 10th/11th October, when permanent traffic management was lifted and both carriageways were opened. Whilst some of the permanent traffic signs are still to be installed in the coming weeks, it was felt that it would be beneficial to the travelling public to open the new road layout at that point so that the full benefit could be made available. Some temporary signs were installed in place of the missing permanent signs at the time of the road opening. Since then we have received a number of communications from the public raising observations regarding the perceived new road layout and the temporary signage. We have acted on these and undertaken additional safety reviews and liaised with representatives of Wokingham Borough Council. We have identified a number of areas for improvement and as a result have installed additional warning signs advising of the new road layout, advanced lane designation signage and additional road markings to give drivers greater awareness of the junction layout. Temporary local hard shoulder closures have been installed to ensure traffic uses designated carriageway lanes only until the old road markings have been removed.
Early indications seem to show that these measures have greatly assisted in better informing drivers and have improved both lane discipline and the use of the junction.
A full review of the signage and road markings for this new junction layout is currently being undertaken and any further improvements deemed necessary will be implemented.
I hope this helps answer your query and for any other enquiries/queries please do not hesitate to contact H.E.C.C.C. They can be contacted 24 hours a day by phone: 0300 123 5000 or by email: info@highwaysengland.co.uk
To help us improve our service, we would be grateful if you could spare a few moments to complete our customer feedback survey.
Yours sincerely,
Victoria Millsom
Customer Enquiries Coordinator
Kier Services I Highways I Hazel Grove Lodge, Old Portsmouth Road, Hindhead, Surrey, GU26 6BQ
area3customerenquiries@kier.co.uk I www.kier.co.uk
Thank you for contacting the Highways England Customer Contact Centre (H.E.C.C.C). Your query has been forwarded to Kier Highways Ltd, we work on behalf of Highways England (formally known as the Highways Agency) and are responsible for the day-to-day operation and maintenance of the M4.
The M4 Junction 10 PPP scheme formed part of a national programme of junction improvements to address known safety issues relating to junction capacity and the risks associated with traffic queuing on high speed motorways and trunk roads. The scheme involved the widening of the existing slip roads and creation of a free flow lane, improvements to the verges and embankments and provision of new warning, information and advance direction signs.
In order to achieve the free flow configuration of the slip roads from the M4 to the A329(M) the latter was reduced to a single lane by way of introducing a lane drop at the M4 entry slip roads. This lane being gained again when the M4 exit slips re-join the A329(M)
Traffic modelling during the design process confirmed that the single lane maintained sufficient capacity to accommodate peak flows of traffic. Construction of the new road layout was completed during the weekend of 10th/11th October, when permanent traffic management was lifted and both carriageways were opened. Whilst some of the permanent traffic signs are still to be installed in the coming weeks, it was felt that it would be beneficial to the travelling public to open the new road layout at that point so that the full benefit could be made available. Some temporary signs were installed in place of the missing permanent signs at the time of the road opening. Since then we have received a number of communications from the public raising observations regarding the perceived new road layout and the temporary signage. We have acted on these and undertaken additional safety reviews and liaised with representatives of Wokingham Borough Council. We have identified a number of areas for improvement and as a result have installed additional warning signs advising of the new road layout, advanced lane designation signage and additional road markings to give drivers greater awareness of the junction layout. Temporary local hard shoulder closures have been installed to ensure traffic uses designated carriageway lanes only until the old road markings have been removed.
Early indications seem to show that these measures have greatly assisted in better informing drivers and have improved both lane discipline and the use of the junction.
A full review of the signage and road markings for this new junction layout is currently being undertaken and any further improvements deemed necessary will be implemented.
I hope this helps answer your query and for any other enquiries/queries please do not hesitate to contact H.E.C.C.C. They can be contacted 24 hours a day by phone: 0300 123 5000 or by email: info@highwaysengland.co.uk
To help us improve our service, we would be grateful if you could spare a few moments to complete our customer feedback survey.
Yours sincerely,
Victoria Millsom
Customer Enquiries Coordinator
Kier Services I Highways I Hazel Grove Lodge, Old Portsmouth Road, Hindhead, Surrey, GU26 6BQ
area3customerenquiries@kier.co.uk I www.kier.co.uk
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