What have been saying?
Discussion
About road systems being designed by people who don't drive?
According to a report I heard this morning, Paulsgrove roundabout at the end of the M27 has 73 traffic signals (73!) ... and it was designed by someone who only rides a bike!
Bet he doesn't stop at them either ... bikes are exempt you know
.
Streaky
>>> Edited by streaky on Tuesday 6th January 15:00
According to a report I heard this morning, Paulsgrove roundabout at the end of the M27 has 73 traffic signals (73!) ... and it was designed by someone who only rides a bike!
Bet he doesn't stop at them either ... bikes are exempt you know
. Streaky
>>> Edited by streaky on Tuesday 6th January 15:00
I once met a senior road layout designer who didn't drive!, we & some others had a big discussion with him one evening. The guy did not have a bloody clue. I'm not joking everyone was gobsmacked by what this guy thought.
I used to be the in the cycle industry for 15 years, I used to ride professionally too & have ridden a bike more places & as far as you can imagine. A lot of these road planners are just downright bloody stupid in my books. its fairly obvious is'nt it?
Cycle lanes on the outside lane of roundabouts!!!!!
I used to be the in the cycle industry for 15 years, I used to ride professionally too & have ridden a bike more places & as far as you can imagine. A lot of these road planners are just downright bloody stupid in my books. its fairly obvious is'nt it?
Cycle lanes on the outside lane of roundabouts!!!!!
If you mean the one at the end of the M27 in Hampshire then I have had the misfortune of using it following its recent "improvement".
Bag o shite. Should have been left as a roundabout.
Another thing that winds me up around this neck of the woods is installing these 2 second delay traffic lights to come on at peak times half way down the slip road. You know the sort, red, 1,2,3 green, 1,2,3 red etc.
The motorway at that point has been stationary at peak times for as long as I have used it. You get held up by the lights, then drive to the end of the slip road and queue up again behind the car that was in front of you at the lights. you cant enter the motorway any quicker cos of the traffic, so why waste money installing a set of traffic lights that achieve zip.
Bag o shite. Should have been left as a roundabout.
Another thing that winds me up around this neck of the woods is installing these 2 second delay traffic lights to come on at peak times half way down the slip road. You know the sort, red, 1,2,3 green, 1,2,3 red etc.
The motorway at that point has been stationary at peak times for as long as I have used it. You get held up by the lights, then drive to the end of the slip road and queue up again behind the car that was in front of you at the lights. you cant enter the motorway any quicker cos of the traffic, so why waste money installing a set of traffic lights that achieve zip.
bga said:
my gf/s uncle designs road layouts and says the biggest problem is that at the consultation stage the only people demonstrating any interest are the tree huggers. Senior management want to pander to those showing interest and we get bizarre layouts with little consistency.
Really - I would love to get involved in a consultation process for road layouts, if only to shout at the idiots who design roads around my county (Oxon). I wasn't even aware that there was a consultation process. Suppose I start at the Oxford CC web site..
BogBeast said:
my gf/s uncle designs road layouts and says the biggest problem is that at the consultation stage the only people demonstrating any interest are the tree huggers. Senior management want to pander to those showing interest and we get bizarre layouts with little consistency.
Really - I would love to get involved in a consultation process for road layouts, if only to shout at the idiots who design roads around my county (Oxon). I wasn't even aware that there was a consultation process. Suppose I start at the Oxford CC web site..
AFAIK (after a brief conversation with the guy a few weeks ago) when layouts are changed there is often a notice stuck up at the site informing of planned works and you can go from there, I think some counties are more likely to do it (East Sussex springs to mind) than other areas (London). I know he was camped down at Lewes a while ago canvassing opinion and answering questions.
wanty1974 said:
I am yet to see a roundabout successfully converted to a traffic light junction. Roundabout win, even if you must have 'peak time' traffic lights at entry points.
Agreed.
With one exception....
M42 juction with A446.
There it is a roundabout with traffic lights, and a quick game of "guess which lane I need today" thrown in for free.
- SAs a trainee I am certainly not the most qualified person, so all I say is based on my mere six months experience.
I work in the traffic systems department of the consultants working for the county council. We install and maintain traffic control and monitoring systems.
The people I work with are extreamly experienced, many came from the county councils own highways department when they outsourced. All drive, as we are frequently required to attend sites. Over half our time is spent doing QA on the rest of our work as ultimatly we are accountable for any mistakes that are made.
There is a limit to what we can do. We are not miricle workers and we cannot find spare capacity for more traffic if there is none. If a road is running at capacity there is little that can be done other than building new road space. Unfortunatly, with todays government, major road building is a no-no.
One problem we have is the general decline in driving standards. We have to keep safety in mind, even if it is the safety of numpties. we have to run to the lowest common denominator.
Its just my experience working in one place for a small amount of time though.
>> Edited by chief-0369 on Tuesday 6th January 15:19
I work in the traffic systems department of the consultants working for the county council. We install and maintain traffic control and monitoring systems.
The people I work with are extreamly experienced, many came from the county councils own highways department when they outsourced. All drive, as we are frequently required to attend sites. Over half our time is spent doing QA on the rest of our work as ultimatly we are accountable for any mistakes that are made.
There is a limit to what we can do. We are not miricle workers and we cannot find spare capacity for more traffic if there is none. If a road is running at capacity there is little that can be done other than building new road space. Unfortunatly, with todays government, major road building is a no-no.
One problem we have is the general decline in driving standards. We have to keep safety in mind, even if it is the safety of numpties. we have to run to the lowest common denominator.
Its just my experience working in one place for a small amount of time though.
>> Edited by chief-0369 on Tuesday 6th January 15:19
meeja said:
M42 juction with A446.
There it is a roundabout with traffic lights, and a quick game of "guess which lane I need today" thrown in for free.
My mum hates going anywhere near that one - last time we even drove in the oppersite direction for some miles and joined the M6 toll just to avoid it! 
chief-0369 said:
I work in the traffic systems department of the consultants working for the county council. We install and maintain traffic control and monitoring systems.
[...]
One problem we have is the general decline in driving standards.
Is this "decline in standards" well known "as fact" where you work? Has anyone got any direct evidence to support the claim?
I too believe that there's a substantial and ongoing decline in driving standards, but it's damn hard to come up with any real evidence.
Best Regards,
Paul Smith
Safe Speed
www.safespeed.org.uk
1. Road planners / designers who are non-drivers? This doesn't surprise me in the least, judging by the congestion-creating schemes I have seen in Surrey.
2. Declining driving standards? I think so, and it's going to get worse as long as the automation of traffic movement continues. There seems to be no desire at all in government to improve driving standards, it's a case of attacking the problem "after the effect", by ever-increasing controls which of course adversely affect both good drivers and bad.
2. Declining driving standards? I think so, and it's going to get worse as long as the automation of traffic movement continues. There seems to be no desire at all in government to improve driving standards, it's a case of attacking the problem "after the effect", by ever-increasing controls which of course adversely affect both good drivers and bad.
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