Night time Closures

[grumpy52]

Once upon a time the best way of transiting the country was through the night .
Not these days !
Most motorways will have at least one closure on its length , many miles of single lanes (with 4 blokes round a 3ft hole) .
Plan a route find out the roadworks , plan an alternative , plan the detour , add 60miles to a 350 mile journey and because its a truck add another 11hr rest break into the plan .
Some of the work is taking longer to do than the building of the original motorway .
Then when the "improvement" is finished 6 months later it has to be resurfaced because the roadway has been left in such poor condition .

[anonymous-user]

Would you prefer "them" to close it in the daytime when the impact would be much bigger.
Or rather than close it 2 or 3 nights in a row just do a full 24hr or so closure with 3 times the cost for staff and supplies etc if they can be found ?

[grumpy52]

speedyguy said:

Would you prefer "them" to close it in the daytime when the impact would be much bigger.
Or rather than close it 2 or 3 nights in a row just do a full 24hr or so closure with 3 times the cost for staff and supplies etc if they can be found ?

I would prefer some sort of co-ordination , close a road but keep the natural alternative open and free running .
The worst case was trying to do a run from Crewe to Dover one night ,M6 shut ,M5 shut,M42 shut ,M40 shut,M1 shut,A14 shut, M25 shut,M2 shut ,M20 shut .
It is never like this in any other country I have driven in.

[mp3manager]

speedyguy said:

Would you prefer "them" to close it in the daytime when the impact would be much bigger.
Or rather than close it 2 or 3 nights in a row just do a full 24hr or so closure with 3 times the cost for staff and supplies etc if they can be found ?

The A1 has been closed every week night for the last six weeks at J49, forcing me along the A19 to Middlesborough, then onto the A66, A1 and back to Scotch Corner, which is a bit more than just a 'upto the next junction and back on again' type of diversion. Then for one week, even that diversion was closed, (while they cut the grass on the A66), and traffic was diverted through the suburbs of Stockton.

It'll be nice when the new motorway is built up at Leeming Bar but that's still 2 years away.

[bigwheel]

mp3manager said:

The A1 has been closed every week night for the last six weeks at J49, forcing me along the A19 to Middlesborough, then onto the A66, A1 and back to Scotch Corner, which is a bit more than just a 'upto the next junction and back on again' type of diversion. Then for one week, even that diversion was closed, (while they cut the grass on the A66), and traffic was diverted through the suburbs of Stockton.

Me also through the Stockton suburbs the other week. WTF
Going up the A19 I kept thinking I'd missed a yellow diversion sign until I twigged where the route was going. Then I began to wonder if Scotch Corner would be closed Southbound (to get at Penrith).

[bigfatnick]

mp3manager said:

speedyguy said:

Would you prefer "them" to close it in the daytime when the impact would be much bigger.
Or rather than close it 2 or 3 nights in a row just do a full 24hr or so closure with 3 times the cost for staff and supplies etc if they can be found ?

The A1 has been closed every week night for the last six weeks at J49, forcing me along the A19 to Middlesborough, then onto the A66, A1 and back to Scotch Corner, which is a bit more than just a 'upto the next junction and back on again' type of diversion. Then for one week, even that diversion was closed, (while they cut the grass on the A66), and traffic was diverted through the suburbs of Stockton.

It'll be nice when the new motorway is built up at Leeming Bar but that's still 2 years away.

Yep, last year the same diversion was on and I decided to continue up the a1 to Perth. Turns out the speed camera on the a1 on the downhill overtaking lane at cockburnspath knows it's hgv's from its cars. 3 points, £100, I'd still have a clean licence if it wasn't for that bd diversion!

[grumpy52]

Thursday night Friday morning coming back from Aberdeen the A1 closed in two places , M1 closed , M6 closed for roadworks and later in the night closed just before the roadworks because of a major "incident".

[waynedear]

Got back to the UK yesterday from a delivery to Germany, 800 miles through 4 countries, heavy rain for most of it, not a single holdup, no closures, no accidents, no bad driving.
From M6 at Catthorpe to J14 we lost an hour due to ' down to one lane' and closure

[grumpy52]

I do wonder if the design and construction of our roads is the problem ,the amount of roads that have tramlines on them the same width as truck axles shows that they were never up to the job .
The layout of many junctions are very poor ,and junctions very close together are never going to work .
anybody who has driven a left hooker commercial will testify how bad junctions and roundabouts are set out

[leggly]

All roads north from the south west have been closed on and off for months now. I don't bother with the Highways aholes website as it never tells what is closed until it is. Try calling the tts and all they do is read the same incorrect information back to you. Matrix signs usually tell me operation stack is in place whilst I'm heading north. Last night was a case in point. What thought it was a good idea to close the M5 and the A46 at the same time? wkers.