Road closed and diversion question

[Koyaanisqatsi]

A12 northbound is currently closed overnight near me -- Junction 12 (Shenfield) up to junction 15 (Hylands Park) for anyone who may be familiar. The only natural diversion when that stretch is ever closed is through the charming village of Ingatestone with its 20/30mph speed limits.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.6702537,0.384219...
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.671533,0.3863884...

Ingatestone High Street effectively becomes the A12 whenever a closure is in place for a collision or emergency works etc., taking whatever cars and huge lorries would have been using the A12 at night. It's currently closed until some time in July though I believe.

Exiting the A12 at the closed junction last night, one was now greeted with an explosion of yellow signs advising that Ingatestone is 'residents access only' and featuring various diversion symbols, text and pictograms, saying to go back on yourself southbound to the M25 junction, then God knows where. I carried on along the usual diversion route and turned down an even quieter back road I know before it hits Ingatestone, but there was a large white works van parked up at the 'Welcome to Ingatestone' sign still in the 40mph stretch with both back windows pulled down, and cameras pointing out, basically like a classic speed camera van. It was a Ringway Jacobs van not a police van.

I work in the village fairly regularly, and there are currently no works going on overnight to cause the road through it to close. It's a fairly busy village anyway but not at night, and I personally wouldn't enjoy lorries driving at touching distance past my window between 9pm and 5am either, but would residents have got fed up, kicked off and managed to get some kind of secondary diversion put in place? And is that speed camera van likely to just be surveying and monitoring the speed of traffic approaching the village?

Edited by Koyaanisqatsi on Monday 15th May 11:19

[Aaron702]

I took the same journey last night around 9:30pm, heading from London up to Braintree via the A12. I knew that sections were closed, but wasn't sure if the typical full A127 & A130 diversion route was in place. Google Maps told me there was a route through so I chanced it. Exiting at Junction 12 I too saw the giant "A12 (N) turn around", "no through route" and square route diversion signs. I followed them briefly but soon realised they wanted to take me back down the southbound carriageway and presumable back to the M25 (no chance, that's over 5 miles going back on myself).

I've experience similar closures before on the A12 (albeit at different junctions) where the signage is incorrect and a through route is possible so I decided to keep going. I passed numerous signs telling me to turn around and that it wasn't a through route. I also saw a non-Police van with cameras poking out the back parked up.

Eventually I got to Junction 15 and was able to rejoin the A12 N so once again the signs were incorrect. Even if the northbound slip was closed here you could still go up Three Mile Hill into Chelmsford and rejoin the A12 at J17, 18 or 19.

I can appreciate that the residents don't want masses of traffic going through their villages but surely putting up signs that are essentially lies isn't really the way to do it?

[SmoothCriminal]

It's going to be closed at the weekend aswell.

Even with x amount of flashy signs if the road is open I'm not sure how they can stop people driving the non diversion route.

The offical diversion route is from the Gallows Corner junction in Romford via the A127 and the A130 up to the A12 at junction 17, the Howe Green Interchange.


www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-65554594.amp

[speedking31]

The van may just be ANPR ensuring that Contractor's vehicles don't use the (for them) unapproved route.

[Koyaanisqatsi]

speedking31 said:

The van may just be ANPR ensuring that Contractor's vehicles don't use the (for them) unapproved route.

Not sure. This was around midnight last night and I had my main beam on, which is why I could see clearly that it looked like a typical police speed camera van i.e. fully kitted out, big camera lens sticking out of each rear window with an operator sat inside. Seems a bit overkill to have someone sitting in the van all night just to make sure the workers aren't using the quickest diversion route.

[DS129]

This has been ongoing for some time and will go on to about July.
Just a thought - you say there is a sign saying "Ingatestone residents access only", is that legally enforceable ?

Could it be that the Ringway Jacobs van is collecting reg numbers of all vehicles and any non-residents are going to get a letter ?

[Sheepshanks]

Koyaanisqatsi said:

speedking31 said:

The van may just be ANPR ensuring that Contractor's vehicles don't use the (for them) unapproved route.

Not sure. This was around midnight last night and I had my main beam on, which is why I could see clearly that it looked like a typical police speed camera van i.e. fully kitted out, big camera lens sticking out of each rear window with an operator sat inside. Seems a bit overkill to have someone sitting in the van all night just to make sure the workers aren't using the quickest diversion route.

They do use similar for speed checks on the workers in roadworks.

While it seems like overkill, they'll have just made it a condition of the contract.

[QBee]

I know where you mean, and you have my sympathy. I used to be down your way a lot, seeing a regular client between Great Baddow and Stock.
That road has far too much traffic anyway, and the section you describe has no viable alternative if Ingatestone is banned.

I now live outside Newark on Trent, half a mile by crow from the A1.
On the occasions when the A1 is closed by accidents around the A17/A46 junction, the quiet country lane (with a 7.5 tonne weight limit) I live on becomes the unofficial diversion, and nose to tail traffic ensues.

So I can see both sides - I didn't move to the country to be unable to get out of my own driveway!