Temporary speed limits. A11 near Newmarket
Temporary speed limits. A11 near Newmarket
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Discussion

Grandad Gaz

Original Poster:

5,281 posts

275 months

Thursday 4th October 2018
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Just wondering what your thoughts are on this.

On the A11 just south of Newmarket near Six Mile Bottom there has been a 40mph temporary speed limit here for well over a year. "For safety reasons " is what the sign says.

Bearing in mind that this is a NSL dual carriageway and most drivers completely ignore this 40 limit, while a few do actually slow down, this, IMO is an accident waiting to happen.

If there is a real safety issue here, then why don't they do something about it!

Miserablegit

4,442 posts

138 months

Thursday 4th October 2018
quotequote all
The safety issue seems to be the barrier on the fulbourn sliproad that was taken out in an accident ages ago. Usual policy around here is not to fix the problem, just try to slow traffic-
The barrier is only a safety issue for traffic using that sliproad- to be honest if you overcook that bend you'll still do yourself an injury barrier or no barrier. Instead of fixing it they decided to try to slow the 99.99% of other traffic that doesn't use that sliproad. The speed signs were effective for a few weeks until people realised there was no hazard on the A11.....
Similar issue as the year before when some of the central reservation on the A11 had been damaged- instead of reparing it there were speed restrictions for months (that were generally followed as there was no central reservation) . PITA for users of the road- fix the damn things.

baldy1926

2,153 posts

229 months

Thursday 4th October 2018
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They did this before and i believe then it was an oversight in that they forgot to tell the contractors to remove the signs.
Theres no work taking place and no one takes any notice of the signs as you said.

andy118run

959 posts

235 months

Thursday 4th October 2018
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Grandad Gaz said:
Bearing in mind that this is a NSL dual carriageway and most drivers completely ignore this 40 limit, while a few do actually slow down, this, IMO is an accident waiting to happen.
Use this bit of road from time to time. Must admit I'm in the former category. Well, not completely ignore, as I ease off a bit but unlikely I would be dropping all the way down to 40.
As mentioned, these signs have been here for a very long time and it's not as if there's ever anybody working on the barriers. I suspect most locals/regular commuters continue in a similar manner and the ones doing 40 are not familiar with the road.

jamei303

3,084 posts

185 months

Thursday 4th October 2018
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It should have been sorted by now, see https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/defective_s...

I suggest complaining to Highways England

QBee

22,482 posts

173 months

Thursday 4th October 2018
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I complained to Highwaymen England months ago - they waffled on about "safety" and did nothing.

Just outside Newark on Trent on the A46 we have cones and 40 signs.....and they have been there for over 6 years.
Same spherical objects reason given - and they are still there.

Don't expect the A11 ones to disappear any time soon, unless a Driving Experience organiser needs 100 new cones that is.....

jr502

487 posts

203 months

Friday 5th October 2018
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I complained to Highways England about this a while back as well. I remember (possibly incorrectly) reading that applications for a reduced speed limit like this have fixed lengths of time and require extension.

Grandad Gaz

Original Poster:

5,281 posts

275 months

Saturday 27th April 2019
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Well, finally the barrier was replaced some weeks ago and temporary speed limits removed.

Two years to replace approximately 25 metres of barrier. Disgraceful.

QBee

22,482 posts

173 months

Saturday 27th April 2019
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Thanks for the update Gaz.