Ask a Highways England Traffic Officer anything
Discussion
Flumpo said:
Hi
I realise you run the strategic motorway not the a roads. But when you close a stretch of motorway do you not check with the local highways for conflicting road closures?
A couple of months back part of the motorway was closed. Had to come off and follow the diversion signs. However the diversion sign led directly onto a road the local guys had decided to resurface and were closing that road. What followed was a 60 odd mile diversion on top of the standard journey.
I realise the locals may be at fault but when you close the motorway, doesn’t anyone do a check the diversion is working throughout the closure?
Also had to come off the m62 for a closure this week and no one had bothered to put up any diversion signs. It was a total mess with one lorry who decided after circling the exit roundabout a few times he just pulled up.
Also is there a number you can ring to say the diversion is t working?
There are basically 2 different ways a stretch of motorway would be closed for, 1) Major incident. 2) Roadworks. I realise you run the strategic motorway not the a roads. But when you close a stretch of motorway do you not check with the local highways for conflicting road closures?
A couple of months back part of the motorway was closed. Had to come off and follow the diversion signs. However the diversion sign led directly onto a road the local guys had decided to resurface and were closing that road. What followed was a 60 odd mile diversion on top of the standard journey.
I realise the locals may be at fault but when you close the motorway, doesn’t anyone do a check the diversion is working throughout the closure?
Also had to come off the m62 for a closure this week and no one had bothered to put up any diversion signs. It was a total mess with one lorry who decided after circling the exit roundabout a few times he just pulled up.
Also is there a number you can ring to say the diversion is t working?
1)
Obviously with a major incident the decision to close any part of the motorway or sliproads is taken by the patrols at scene. Usually the other emergency services would be in attendance and would be well aware that the stretch has been closed to assist with clearing / investigating the incident.
Once it's called to close a stretch of motorway, there is a list of phone numbers in the system that need to be called to inform them of this closure, ie. Emergency services (If not already involved) Schools on the diversion route, councils, etc.
For actually physically checking the diversion route for problems (if the local council don't mention it ) you need to know how an incident is handled.
A report of an incident comes in, the nearest patrol is despatched, if injuries are reported then other emergency services are requested, the first patrol on scene will quickly assess the situation and request the closure.
Now we need a patrol on the main c/way at the exit of the junction prior to the scene, they will close and divert the traffic off the motorway, then they will man that closure, we also need another patrol to close the entry slip at that junction. = 3 patrols so far.
The HE contractor is requested to come along and enforce the closure with large comes, + hard signage, also to put barriers on the entry slip, this now releases the patrol there, they will now go to the rear of the trapped traffic and start turning vehicles around sending them reverse direction back to the previous junction where the patrol that's manning that, will assist them to filter into the stream of traffic exiting up the slip-road.
Once all that trapped traffic is clear, the patrol that was turning vehicles, is now free to actually drive the diversion route to see if it's working ok. As you can be aware now that could be hours after the diversion first goes on.
If the closure has to go on and incorporates a motorway intersection, then double the amount of patrols required.
Most outstation usually have 3 patrols out each day shift (2 on nights), so a closure would need all their resources, patrols then need to be robbed from other outstations and have to travel in to assist.
2)
Roadworks.
99% of roadworks are planned, These are controlled by the MAC for that area (Managing Agency Contractor) They deal with everything involved, including checking the diversion route. The HE control room only get involved by setting signs & signals for them when requested, and the Nation Traffic Information Centre will put it on the HE website, Inform the media, and set strategic messages further afield (Ie. those that tell you the motorway is closed 200 miles away)
The 1% of emergency roadworks are treated similar to a major incident.
Edited by Gafferjim on Thursday 19th April 15:25
Depending on what works they are doing local authorities can be “encouraged” to remove or delay roadworks. Resurfacing is a particularly awkward one though as by the time the closures are on the workforce will be well on their way, tarmac will have left the batching plant etc so there would be a huge financial cost for cancelling. Think about what is involved in an average resurfacing job...
Planer crew x2-3 people
Steamroller x2
Truck drivers x5-10 depending on job size
Tarmac spreader machine person x2
People holding rakes x a few
Site foreman etc x a few
And that is not including the third parties that are subbed to do the traffic management.
Strictly speaking for roadworks there should never be clashes diverting traffic onto diversions however this is not always possible (each regional asset support contract has a team of people who do nothing but book roadspace and try to avoid works clashing).
Planer crew x2-3 people
Steamroller x2
Truck drivers x5-10 depending on job size
Tarmac spreader machine person x2
People holding rakes x a few
Site foreman etc x a few
And that is not including the third parties that are subbed to do the traffic management.
Strictly speaking for roadworks there should never be clashes diverting traffic onto diversions however this is not always possible (each regional asset support contract has a team of people who do nothing but book roadspace and try to avoid works clashing).
Do the police call handlers get any training on the motorway mile markers? Ive called them before giving the board letter / number and been asked which carriage way/ junction but the one just now seemed particularly hopeless. I would try the HA number but I'd still be waiting to get through from past experience.
mcdjl said:
Do the police call handlers get any training on the motorway mile markers? Ive called them before giving the board letter / number and been asked which carriage way/ junction but the one just now seemed particularly hopeless. I would try the HA number but I'd still be waiting to get through from past experience.
IME, this is a recurring problem with local force control rooms. I have been often asked for a postcode for a motorway problem! They do not understand markerpost numbers in many cases. On the other hand, HE gets the message straight away and, again IME, the phone is answered quickly. I tend to default to report anything to HE rather than the Police these days, and because of the mileage I do, this can be 2 or 3 times per week.
I've phoned 999 in the past to report debris, the police operator didn't understand the marker post location, I had to tell them to pass it to traffic/highways, they will know what it means. Now I just ring my own control centre and get them to pass it to the nearest control centre to where I am.
BossHogg said:
Shiv_P said:
Did they ask you to upload that?
Bit cheeky if they didn't IMO
A bit of warning would have been nice, only found out today in work when colleagues were talking about it!!!Bit cheeky if they didn't IMO
kers (AutoCar, not PH).I’m still toying with the idea whether or not I should start an “Ask a detective anything” thread. My main worry is it would just get hijacked by the usual suspects and turn into a weapons grade whinge fest...
Shiv_P said:
CABC said:
Shiv_P said:
Did they ask you to upload that?
Bit cheeky if they didn't IMO
everything on here belongs to Haymarket.Bit cheeky if they didn't IMO
WhatCar said:
Recently, What Car?’s sister title PistonHeads ran a Q&A session with an anonymous car dealer on its forums. Both questions and answers inform, educate, entertain and provide plenty of handy tips for consumers buying cars.
I don’t seem to recall PH running a Q&A session. It was a salesman who started a thread himself on the subject.Cheeky b
ds!Why if you're shutting the motor way at a junction and sending vehicles up a mile long slip road with 2 lanes do you need to reduce the carriage way to 1 lane to get the traffic on to it, to then expand it back to 2 lanes? (M1 J23a this morning though appreciate this is out of your area).
Most slip roads have two lanes, we'll taper the closure from the outside lane inwards to the slip road coning off the hard shoulder to prevent traffic continuing down the main carriageway. I say outside lane as we only have 3 lanes on my patch, I appreciate other areas have 4 5 and 6 lane stretches.
BossHogg said:
Most slip roads have two lanes, we'll taper the closure from the outside lane inwards to the slip road coning off the hard shoulder to prevent traffic continuing down the main carriageway. I say outside lane as we only have 3 lanes on my patch, I appreciate other areas have 4 5 and 6 lane stretches.
Sorry, the carriage way was 3 lanes, tapered to 1, on to the slip road immediately opened back to 2 on the slip Why not just to 2?.Because that would mean you're leaving lane 1 & 2 of the main c/way running up to the point were traffic has then got to go up the slip-road., There are a considerable amount of drivers that would then think that because lane 2 isn't closed, it must carry on past the exit if left as a running lane prior to the exit. Also with only lane 1 running and up to the slip-road, it stops multiple lane changes going up the slip-road where the 2nd lane becomes available, only the drivers turning right at the top of the slip-road can change to lane 2 of the slip safely without muppets wanting to also change from lane 2 to lane 1 at the same time.
Motorways where there are lane splits with more than 1 lane designated for the exit. ie, a 5 lane section, where lanes 1 & 2 are designated slip-road lanes well prior to the exit would be coned so that both lanes can be used to exit.
Motorways where there are lane splits with more than 1 lane designated for the exit. ie, a 5 lane section, where lanes 1 & 2 are designated slip-road lanes well prior to the exit would be coned so that both lanes can be used to exit.
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