M25 J19 - Hunton Bridge
Discussion
Having been greeted by a veritable sea of cones and little activity every morning for the last 3 weeks, I had a look at the Highways Agency website to see what is going on.
www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/14174.aspx
This has really warmed over the piss kettle. They appear to be advocating the creation of congestion as a means of traffic control.
I rattled off this and if you use this piece of road (or those surrounding it) regularly I suggest you do the same - the e-mail address in in the link I posted above.
Sir,
I feel compelled to make contact with you regarding the proposed changes to the Junction 19 sliproad of the M25 - the reduction of the sliproad from 2 lanes to 1 in order to create congestion which the Highways Agency believes will encourage less traffic to use the A405 link from J21 to J19 to avoid the queues caused by merging vehicles.
Having sat in a 25 minute traffic jam every morning for the last 3 weeks, whilst joining the M25 at J19 I thought I'd take a look at your website to see what is going on - after all, the cones have been in place for a while now with no sign of work commencing.
Imagine my horror then to find that the Highways Agency is planning on making this a permanent arrangement! Surely any observation of the Hunton Bridge roundabout and surrounding roads between 7:30am and 9am on any weekday morning will reveal the extent of disruption to surface traffic that this new layout is having and will continue to have if it is made permanent.
Since the cones have been placed on the sliproad (a good 1000 yards from the roundabout) queues routinely reach back to the Hunton Bridge roundabout and back up the A41 North Western Avenue to the junction with the A405 - the exact road your plan is trying to 'de-congest'. This queue on the sliproad has the knock on effect of blocking access to and from the A411 Hempstead Road which runs in and out of Watford. I have personally witnessed at least one very near miss with vehicles pushing out of this road and onto the inside lane of the Hunton Bridge Roundabout where traffic flows more freely.
For what its worth (from someone who has used this junction daily for the last 18 months) I would suggest that instead of restricting traffic on the sliproad and using the creation of surface road congestion as an incentive for vehicles to stay on the M25 from J21 - J19 and not use the so called 'rat-run' of the A405, you look into the following as causes of, and possible solutions to the problem.
1. Congestion on the M25.
On the anticlockwise M25, queues begin to form well before J20 for the J19 merging congestion. This is compounded by J20 itself which is used as a 'shortcut' by some motorists, exiting on the sliproad, crossing the roundabout at the end and re-joining on the other side. This cuts around half a mile of queuing traffic. This section also has quite an incline leading to the inevitable clogging of the inside and middle lanes by HGVs forcing faster moving traffic to the overtaking lane. It is not uncommon though for this traffic jam to start at the end of the sliproad from J21a and continue all the way to J19. Crucially, in the last 3 weeks (the duration of your test so far) this has been the case almost every day.
2. The J19 sliproad.
As I'm sure you know when this section of road was first built it was meat to be part of the M16 London Orbital and as such, the J19 sliproad has a lot of space on either side for expansion. This is particularly evident after the bridge carrying Langley Lane crosses it. The large concrete platform to the left of the main carriageway is a prime candidate for the creation of a wider sliproad end, giving more space and time for vehicles joining at J19 to merge into the flow on the M25. The inside lane of such a new sliproad could even be carried onto the main carriageway for a short section, making the M25 4 lanes wide, much like the arrangement on the M4/M25 junction heading clockwise.
3. J19 itself.
Obviously, J19 is restricted ie. It is not possible to exit at J19 if you are travelling anticlockwise on the M25. This adds to the congestion of the inside lane since unlike other, 2 way junctions, traffic is not leaving the motorway, freeing up space for the vehicles joining. In addition, the fact that this is a restriction junction means that motorists using the M25 to get to the West of Watford are more likely to use J21a and the A405 or (more likely) J20 and the A41. Either way, this means more traffic using the heavily congested Hunton Bridge roundabout. Perhaps some form of modelling exercise is required to establish the effect of making J19 a 2-way junction?
Once again I implore you not to go ahead with the plan to make this arrangement permanent. It is quite clear that work is needed on the J19 sliproad and the arrangements for merging with the M25 but it is equally clear that restricting flow on the sliproad will not solve the problem.
I have taken a look at the ‘FAQ’ section of your webpages regarding this project and one of them is Will this not just cause congestion at the Hunton Bridge Roundabout?
The response given is We discussed the scheme with Hertfordshire County Council and we believe that this will not cause any congestion at the Hunton Bridge Roundabout.
I sincerely hope that after this trial period you realise the error of this statement and act accordingly in the interests of the road user.
Sincerely
dougc
I'll let you know how it goes (although I fear a suitably head exploding e-mail of monumentally pompous proportions is being formulated as I type this)
www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/14174.aspx
This has really warmed over the piss kettle. They appear to be advocating the creation of congestion as a means of traffic control.
I rattled off this and if you use this piece of road (or those surrounding it) regularly I suggest you do the same - the e-mail address in in the link I posted above.
Sir,
I feel compelled to make contact with you regarding the proposed changes to the Junction 19 sliproad of the M25 - the reduction of the sliproad from 2 lanes to 1 in order to create congestion which the Highways Agency believes will encourage less traffic to use the A405 link from J21 to J19 to avoid the queues caused by merging vehicles.
Having sat in a 25 minute traffic jam every morning for the last 3 weeks, whilst joining the M25 at J19 I thought I'd take a look at your website to see what is going on - after all, the cones have been in place for a while now with no sign of work commencing.
Imagine my horror then to find that the Highways Agency is planning on making this a permanent arrangement! Surely any observation of the Hunton Bridge roundabout and surrounding roads between 7:30am and 9am on any weekday morning will reveal the extent of disruption to surface traffic that this new layout is having and will continue to have if it is made permanent.
Since the cones have been placed on the sliproad (a good 1000 yards from the roundabout) queues routinely reach back to the Hunton Bridge roundabout and back up the A41 North Western Avenue to the junction with the A405 - the exact road your plan is trying to 'de-congest'. This queue on the sliproad has the knock on effect of blocking access to and from the A411 Hempstead Road which runs in and out of Watford. I have personally witnessed at least one very near miss with vehicles pushing out of this road and onto the inside lane of the Hunton Bridge Roundabout where traffic flows more freely.
For what its worth (from someone who has used this junction daily for the last 18 months) I would suggest that instead of restricting traffic on the sliproad and using the creation of surface road congestion as an incentive for vehicles to stay on the M25 from J21 - J19 and not use the so called 'rat-run' of the A405, you look into the following as causes of, and possible solutions to the problem.
1. Congestion on the M25.
On the anticlockwise M25, queues begin to form well before J20 for the J19 merging congestion. This is compounded by J20 itself which is used as a 'shortcut' by some motorists, exiting on the sliproad, crossing the roundabout at the end and re-joining on the other side. This cuts around half a mile of queuing traffic. This section also has quite an incline leading to the inevitable clogging of the inside and middle lanes by HGVs forcing faster moving traffic to the overtaking lane. It is not uncommon though for this traffic jam to start at the end of the sliproad from J21a and continue all the way to J19. Crucially, in the last 3 weeks (the duration of your test so far) this has been the case almost every day.
2. The J19 sliproad.
As I'm sure you know when this section of road was first built it was meat to be part of the M16 London Orbital and as such, the J19 sliproad has a lot of space on either side for expansion. This is particularly evident after the bridge carrying Langley Lane crosses it. The large concrete platform to the left of the main carriageway is a prime candidate for the creation of a wider sliproad end, giving more space and time for vehicles joining at J19 to merge into the flow on the M25. The inside lane of such a new sliproad could even be carried onto the main carriageway for a short section, making the M25 4 lanes wide, much like the arrangement on the M4/M25 junction heading clockwise.
3. J19 itself.
Obviously, J19 is restricted ie. It is not possible to exit at J19 if you are travelling anticlockwise on the M25. This adds to the congestion of the inside lane since unlike other, 2 way junctions, traffic is not leaving the motorway, freeing up space for the vehicles joining. In addition, the fact that this is a restriction junction means that motorists using the M25 to get to the West of Watford are more likely to use J21a and the A405 or (more likely) J20 and the A41. Either way, this means more traffic using the heavily congested Hunton Bridge roundabout. Perhaps some form of modelling exercise is required to establish the effect of making J19 a 2-way junction?
Once again I implore you not to go ahead with the plan to make this arrangement permanent. It is quite clear that work is needed on the J19 sliproad and the arrangements for merging with the M25 but it is equally clear that restricting flow on the sliproad will not solve the problem.
I have taken a look at the ‘FAQ’ section of your webpages regarding this project and one of them is Will this not just cause congestion at the Hunton Bridge Roundabout?
The response given is We discussed the scheme with Hertfordshire County Council and we believe that this will not cause any congestion at the Hunton Bridge Roundabout.
I sincerely hope that after this trial period you realise the error of this statement and act accordingly in the interests of the road user.
Sincerely
dougc
I'll let you know how it goes (although I fear a suitably head exploding e-mail of monumentally pompous proportions is being formulated as I type this)
this queue is rediculous. That part of the m25 is such a bottleneck and keeping people on the m25 is not the answer without expanding the m25
It has forced more people to stay on the m25 but virtually everyday the traffic reports indicate extremely heavy congestion! Its added 20minutes onto my journey at least!
I will pen an email too!
It has forced more people to stay on the m25 but virtually everyday the traffic reports indicate extremely heavy congestion! Its added 20minutes onto my journey at least!
I will pen an email too!
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