Roadworks on Smart Motorways - Red X
Discussion
Last night 10pm on M1 they were closing 3 of the 4 lanes on the new Smart Motorway near J18 southbound.
What was bizarre is that the red X lane closure signs begun 3 miles before the roadworks. Cars queued for miles with the three inside lanes empty.
A lot of cars and lorries drove along the empty lanes and pulled in nearer the actual roadworks. Also cars we joining from M6 and passing through red X for a few gantries.
Will they be in trouble for driving through a red X?
What was bizarre is that the red X lane closure signs begun 3 miles before the roadworks. Cars queued for miles with the three inside lanes empty.
A lot of cars and lorries drove along the empty lanes and pulled in nearer the actual roadworks. Also cars we joining from M6 and passing through red X for a few gantries.
Will they be in trouble for driving through a red X?
"The M1 southbound between junctions J18 and J16 . Lane Closures : Lanes 1, 2 and 3 will be closed. Schedule : Expect disruption everyday between 21:00 and 06:00 from 23 July 2018 to 28 July 2018. "
J16 to J18 is 11 miles. If you think overnight works on an 11 mile stretch of motorway is going to consist of cones and diggers and busy workers in high vis for the entire length for nine hours then you're mistaken.
If you can devise a way of completing the required tasks on that 11 mile stretch in 9 hours by only closing shorter lengths for shorter time periods then I suggest you write a letter of complaint to Highways England.
J16 to J18 is 11 miles. If you think overnight works on an 11 mile stretch of motorway is going to consist of cones and diggers and busy workers in high vis for the entire length for nine hours then you're mistaken.
If you can devise a way of completing the required tasks on that 11 mile stretch in 9 hours by only closing shorter lengths for shorter time periods then I suggest you write a letter of complaint to Highways England.
Going through a Red X is the same as going through a red traffic light (which is all to common these days). The lanes with the Red X will have been closed to allow cones to be deployed, which work against the flow of traffic. Hopefully there will have been some Red X enforcement in that area . . .
Nothing annoys me more when in such jams as seeing cars sailing through the red crosses. It's akin to watching a bunch of people sailing through red lights (and an equal penalty if caught).
It really boils my piss that we have "active motorways" that will happily reduce you to 40mph for no reason what so ever (and of course get flashed if you go over it) or play musical speed limits yet they don't "flash" on the red X.
IMO its far more dangerous than being 6-8mph over the limit.
It really boils my piss that we have "active motorways" that will happily reduce you to 40mph for no reason what so ever (and of course get flashed if you go over it) or play musical speed limits yet they don't "flash" on the red X.
IMO its far more dangerous than being 6-8mph over the limit.
I hate 'SMART' motorways. The wave control theory is sound, but the reality is hell. They are just a big s
tty symptom of under investment in the road infrastructure and a typical half-arsed British bodge. People carry on past the red X and I have no faith that if I ever broke down in lane 1 that some tool wouldn't drive straight into me. I have also had a broken down vehicle in lane 1 and no X on the lane at all, just some old van and some bloke stood next to it.
The 40 / 50 / 40 / 60 / 40 MPH game is a total PITA too, especially with some stressed out 45 tonner behind you whose driver wants to drive straight through your car.
When all lanes are blocked with traffic, as they are almost always are on the M42/62 'SMART' sections, how are the emergency services meant to get along the motorway to an incident?
Does anyone know why at lane closures the UK doesn't use merge-in-turn signage? Would help stop the 3 mile queue in one lane and the barging in from the other.
tty symptom of under investment in the road infrastructure and a typical half-arsed British bodge. People carry on past the red X and I have no faith that if I ever broke down in lane 1 that some tool wouldn't drive straight into me. I have also had a broken down vehicle in lane 1 and no X on the lane at all, just some old van and some bloke stood next to it. The 40 / 50 / 40 / 60 / 40 MPH game is a total PITA too, especially with some stressed out 45 tonner behind you whose driver wants to drive straight through your car.
When all lanes are blocked with traffic, as they are almost always are on the M42/62 'SMART' sections, how are the emergency services meant to get along the motorway to an incident?
Does anyone know why at lane closures the UK doesn't use merge-in-turn signage? Would help stop the 3 mile queue in one lane and the barging in from the other.
Rich Boy Spanner said:
Does anyone know why at lane closures the UK doesn't use merge-in-turn signage? Would help stop the 3 mile queue in one lane and the barging in from the other.
It's out of fear of the signs causing accidents and making liability far harder to apportion. They can only be used where its 2 lanes to one, always slow moving traffic and if the queues cause excessive obstructions or blocking. The government announced maximum of 2 miles of motorway roadworks which would have made a huge difference but it has died a death. There is also a ministerial instruction of a maximum of 10 miles but that has also been ignored as this thread shows.
Edited by Graveworm on Tuesday 17th July 10:16
matt21 said:
Last night 10pm on M1 they were closing 3 of the 4 lanes on the new Smart Motorway near J18 southbound.
What was bizarre is that the red X lane closure signs begun 3 miles before the roadworks. Cars queued for miles with the three inside lanes empty.
A lot of cars and lorries drove along the empty lanes and pulled in nearer the actual roadworks. Also cars we joining from M6 and passing through red X for a few gantries.
Will they be in trouble for driving through a red X?
Are you asking ‘will they be in trouble?’ What was bizarre is that the red X lane closure signs begun 3 miles before the roadworks. Cars queued for miles with the three inside lanes empty.
A lot of cars and lorries drove along the empty lanes and pulled in nearer the actual roadworks. Also cars we joining from M6 and passing through red X for a few gantries.
Will they be in trouble for driving through a red X?
or are you really asking ‘can I get away with it too?’
Rich Boy Spanner said:
Does anyone know why at lane closures the UK doesn't use merge-in-turn signage? Would help stop the 3 mile queue in one lane and the barging in from the other.
Becuase Britain is populated by a lot of dullards that like to form an unnecessary queue miles before it's needed and then get all uppity when those blessed with some intelligence decide to merge where the road actually narrows rather than miles before.matt21 said:
Last night 10pm on M1 they were closing 3 of the 4 lanes on the new Smart Motorway near J18 southbound.
What was bizarre is that the red X lane closure signs begun 3 miles before the roadworks. Cars queued for miles with the three inside lanes empty.
A lot of cars and lorries drove along the empty lanes and pulled in nearer the actual roadworks. Also cars we joining from M6 and passing through red X for a few gantries.
Will they be in trouble for driving through a red X?
Yes they probably get fixed penalties.What was bizarre is that the red X lane closure signs begun 3 miles before the roadworks. Cars queued for miles with the three inside lanes empty.
A lot of cars and lorries drove along the empty lanes and pulled in nearer the actual roadworks. Also cars we joining from M6 and passing through red X for a few gantries.
Will they be in trouble for driving through a red X?
This is just part of the emerging regime of fixed penalties being used as the new stealth tax on motorists.
Graveworm said:
The government announced maximum of 2 miles of motorway roadworks which would have made a huge difference but it has died a death. There is also a ministerial instruction of a maximum of 10 miles but that has also been ignored as this thread shows.
Good, because some dick in London who lies for a living makes a grand PR statement with no knowledge of how it works 
yet idiots believe them. Lazadude said:
Do the New HADECs (3? the ones attached to the side of new smart gantrys) cameras work with lane closed or are they purely speed?
They work with lanes closed - or at least were doing so on the M3 yesterday - we were going South and noticed a laser light show on the other carriageway as the camera flashed continuously... we thought it was weird as the traffic was going very slowly - looked back at the gantry and the left lane had an X in it - the other lanes were limited to 40 - the traffic was definitely all going below 40mph - very slow, so every car in the X lane (and it was full of cars) was being caught...Smart motorway signs are one of the reasons I'm considering getting a dash cam
On the M25 the other day lane one had a red sign. Not a red X, it was just a red light. I'm always seeing radon stuff like lanes with no limit, signs changing as I go past etc. It would be good to have a video record to make contesting any fines easier.
On the M25 the other day lane one had a red sign. Not a red X, it was just a red light. I'm always seeing radon stuff like lanes with no limit, signs changing as I go past etc. It would be good to have a video record to make contesting any fines easier.
speedyguy said:
Good, because some dick in London who lies for a living makes a grand PR statement with no knowledge of how it works yet idiots believe them.
It's only an issue if we accept that delays in roadworks have no cost. We are approaching a cost of 20 billion a year from congestion. That kind of loss leads to way more deaths than happen in roadworks. Not working at night or Sundays adds to this cost. Using less workers over more time adds to this cost, not working weekends and evenings adds to this cost, closing longer stretches adds to the cost. It can be done quicker, (Santa monica freeway rebuilt including planning and permits in less than 90 days) but there is no real penalty to not do so. The legal limit past pedestrians in an unlit single carriageway road is 60mph and has been since way before driver aids make many cars nearly incapable of hitting a pedestrian. let alone another vehicle or inadvertently leave their lane. But a lit motorway roadworks site with barriers and or cones on a multi carriageway motorway is usually 50. We need to discuss necessity. yet idiots believe them. Edited by Graveworm on Thursday 19th July 21:42
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