M3 - the new road to hell?

[cailean]

30 mins at 50 mph is hell? talk about 1st world problems and moaning....

[mcgandalf]

cailean said:

30 mins at 50 mph is hell? talk about 1st world problems and moaning....

I'm originally driving from West Wales, I don't have cruise control, I'll be tired enough as it is and frankly 30 mins at 50 mph will finish me off.

[fatboy18]

DREADFUL ROAD mindless boredom
Used it a month ago to get to Southampton Just horrid, on the return trip I took the Newbury cut and continued my journey on the M4 Much longer way round to my final destination but the roads were much better.

[don'tbesilly]

mcgandalf said:

Sorry to bump this thread. Am planning to drive up the M3 from J8 for the A303 to London tomorrow for the first time in months. Does anyone know if it is still 40 miles of mind-numbing average speed 50 zone, or have they finished the roadworks?

If the former, I'll take a gigantic diversion via the A31/A3. If the latter, I'll be very surprised.

Highways Agency website says roadworks only between J4-4a, but frankly I'd like a second opinion.

I used the M3 last week (coming back from Ringwood to Reigate), from memory I think the roadworks start at around Fleet Services and went as far as the M25 junction where I left to join the M25.

I usually use the A31/A3 joining it at Winchester, after last week's journey I'd use the A31, M3 is a mare!

Edit: Fleet services to the M25 jct is approx 15mls

Edited by don'tbesilly on Tuesday 29th December 20:46

[fatboy18]

A31 is a nice road

[essayer]

I drove up just before Christmas and it was 50 from Frimley. It flows well and really doesn't warrant a massive diversion tbh

[mcgandalf]

Thanks chaps.

I moved from Hants to SE London back in June, just when the powers who be decided to extend the 50 SPECS roadworks from their existing length of J2 to Fleet services all the way past Basingstoke. I thought it was the perfect time to move away. If, from what you suggest, the Fleet-Basingstoke stretch was just for the short-term then that is a minor blessing.

I used to drive M3 from J2-J7 most days - yes I agree it flowed well but good God it was a numbingly dull stretch of tarmac.

[fatboy18]

essayer said:

I drove up just before Christmas and it was 50 from Frimley. It flows well and really doesn't warrant a massive diversion tbh

You must be a very calm person!

[essayer]

I really don't find it so bad although I don't have to do it often - and I do have cruise control (although it always feels like nobody else does...)

I have no idea when they do any work on it though, it always seems empty !

[SydneyBridge]

they have suspended work for Christmas, but I think I would prefer them to get their asses in gear and finish the work.

[battered]

W12GT said:

It's so dangerous - really difficult to maintain a high level of concentration at that speed on such big roads.

The statistics don't bear this out, as much as we'd like it to be true. A mate of mine does H&S, with highways responsibility for some of his function. He tells me there have been no fatalities on a 50-average bit of motorway, since the start. None, as in zero. There have been shunts, of course, but nobody has been killed. I was sceptical too but apparently it's true. The closest was the hen night minibus tragedy around/on the M62/A1 junction a year or two ago, I think that was just before the 50 section.

I am of course happy to be proved wrong, that since he told me this there has in fact been a fatal accident on a SPECS controlled 50 section. (Original source: SHP magazine, I think, it's the magazine of IOSH)

[ViperDave]

battered said:

W12GT said:

It's so dangerous - really difficult to maintain a high level of concentration at that speed on such big roads.

The statistics don't bear this out, as much as we'd like it to be true. A mate of mine does H&S, with highways responsibility for some of his function. He tells me there have been no fatalities on a 50-average bit of motorway, since the start. None, as in zero. There have been shunts, of course, but nobody has been killed. I was sceptical too but apparently it's true. The closest was the hen night minibus tragedy around/on the M62/A1 junction a year or two ago, I think that was just before the 50 section.

I am of course happy to be proved wrong, that since he told me this there has in fact been a fatal accident on a SPECS controlled 50 section. (Original source: SHP magazine, I think, it's the magazine of IOSH)

about a second of time on google disproves that theory, Not only a fatal on the section of roadworks being talked about but also the restrictions and lane size hampering the emergency services too.

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/m3-cra...

[battered]

That's interesting, he may have the dubious distinction of being the first. I think it's still true for the endless 50 sections on the M1, or does your Google-fu extend to disproving that assertion also?

[ViperDave]

battered said:

That's interesting, he may have the dubious distinction of being the first. I think it's still true for the endless 50 sections on the M1, or does your Google-fu extend to disproving that assertion also?

Took a few more seconds and not sure if its the section you refer to, or if it was specs, but the article says it occurred in a section undergoing road works for the smart motorway.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2876218/Dr...

Edited by ViperDave on Tuesday 29th December 23:03

[battered]

Looks like it's no longer the case then. A zero fatalities record was a bloody good trick, after all, and the easiest record to lose.

[ViperDave]

well the specs website usees stats for the 12mo before and after march 2006 to show the fatalities reduced to zero, I wonder why they haven't updated them in the 10 years since!

http://www.speedcheck.co.uk/specs.htm#casualty_red...

[Nimby]

mcgandalf said:

Sorry to bump this thread. Am planning to drive up the M3 from J8 for the A303 to London tomorrow for the first time in months. Does anyone know if it is still 40 miles of mind-numbing average speed 50 zone, or have they finished the roadworks?

Probably too late for you - the bridge works / 50mph limit between junctions 5 and 8 finished a few weeks ago.
But 3 to 4A will still be there for ages.

[mcgandalf]

Nimby said:

robably too late for you - the bridge works / 50mph limit between junctions 5 and 8 finished a few weeks ago.
But 3 to 4A will still be there for ages.

Not too late - thanks

I can probably cope with 3 to 4A as a one-off.

[Collectingbrass]

ViperDave said:

battered said:

W12GT said:

It's so dangerous - really difficult to maintain a high level of concentration at that speed on such big roads.

The statistics don't bear this out, as much as we'd like it to be true. A mate of mine does H&S, with highways responsibility for some of his function. He tells me there have been no fatalities on a 50-average bit of motorway, since the start. None, as in zero. There have been shunts, of course, but nobody has been killed. I was sceptical too but apparently it's true. The closest was the hen night minibus tragedy around/on the M62/A1 junction a year or two ago, I think that was just before the 50 section.

I am of course happy to be proved wrong, that since he told me this there has in fact been a fatal accident on a SPECS controlled 50 section. (Original source: SHP magazine, I think, it's the magazine of IOSH)

about a second of time on google disproves that theory, Not only a fatal on the section of roadworks being talked about but also the restrictions and lane size hampering the emergency services too.

http://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/m3-cra...

I wouldn't be sure about the restrictions and lane size hampering the emergency services - as in yes they couldn't get through the traffic but I would wager the fire service had been briefed to use the lanes occupied by the construction teams & they either couldn't or forgot. I have had seevral instances in my career as a cone jockey where the blue light services used my site areas, I also have instances where they forgot they could - or indeed could not as one fireman driving a camper van found to his cost when he turned right out of his station at shift end and drove into my trench, despite me briefing them 5 hours before hand.

Also, from the article the fire service took 17 minutes to reach the incident. The article isn't specific on the location but google maps gives a travel time of 7 minutes from Camberley Fire Station to Junction 3 and 15 to Junction 2. As they were't much longer than that, and probably couldn't do much to assist the driver once there I suspect this complaint has more than a little "industrial relations" to it.

Despite all that, any fatality is really unfortunate. It is worth bearing mind though that there were 96 fatalities on 2,173 miles motorways in 2014 oveall (source: http://www.racfoundation.org/motoring-faqs/safety#... There's no data I could find that says how many miles of motorway have roadworks at any one time, but from the 2014 data you would expect 4.5 fatalities per year per 100 miles of motorway, or 2 every three years for this stretch. As they started in Sept 14 only time will tell if the theory is correct for this stretch, but I would say that one fatality in all the years the SPECS controlled 50 sections have been in place rather does prove it.

[twoblacklines]

Don't drive down the A30 near Bodmin then. Instead of the normal 50mph they made it 40MPH for 10+ miles even though they are only working within the first 3 miles. And two MASSIVE hills...cruise control is great until you go downhill.