UN Engineering roads?
Discussion
near to where I live they (some time ago) altered a single lane traffic light filter from one lane to two lanes, this really helped to move the traffic across the junction, blending/filtering etc from the two lanes into one.
now they have resurfaced the road and gone back to two lanes WTF!, and shortened the "green" light phase!
there is now a permanent tailback on the main trunkroad of motorists waiting to turn at said filter!! (causing massive tailbacks)!!
I phoned the local Council about it and their reply was "people were confused about right if way"??
WTF!!
why cant these people get down to basics and EDUCATE DRIVERS!?
now they have resurfaced the road and gone back to two lanes WTF!, and shortened the "green" light phase!
there is now a permanent tailback on the main trunkroad of motorists waiting to turn at said filter!! (causing massive tailbacks)!!
I phoned the local Council about it and their reply was "people were confused about right if way"??
WTF!!
why cant these people get down to basics and EDUCATE DRIVERS!?
I believe it is a deliberate policy against the motorist, just stop and think about everything that they do!
In their wisdom, they want to reduce fuel and road use, to force us all to use public transport. This, WE all know is a joke!(but how do you expect them to know or care, they have a chauffeur and a car waiting outside.) Not to mention a police motorcycle escort to speed their progress, and I DO mean SPEED!
We all know that the car is the quickest form of transport,and these days time is SO important,not just for the business man but for the private individual as well! and an extra 4 hrs on the working day for many is NO joke! Add to this the outrageous expense of deregulated public transport these days (thank you Maggie) it is just NOT an option!
However, IF you are one of the pampered few mentioned above,and your aims are to reduce car use by the plebs', and you cannot regulate the price,route or frequency of "privatised" public transport (thank you again Maggie,)then your only option is to make car use as EXPENSIVE!(esculating fuel tax,) as TROUBLESOME! (i.e. speedcamera's etc) and SLOWER! by lower speed limits, and UN-ENGINEERING roads as you describe.
It really IS in MY view "open warfare" on the motorists by the politicians.
We, the motoring public should let them Know that ANY political party that threatens us like this will NOT get our vote again.
But be in NO DOUBT as to whom your enemy is, these things are decided at "WORLD SUMMITS" "G9" and European levels, not just your local/National Politico's!
Sorry!
I think I'll go and lay down for a while.
Y'Know, I think I must be getting better! I don't think I swore Fu
ng once during that! 
In their wisdom, they want to reduce fuel and road use, to force us all to use public transport. This, WE all know is a joke!(but how do you expect them to know or care, they have a chauffeur and a car waiting outside.) Not to mention a police motorcycle escort to speed their progress, and I DO mean SPEED!
We all know that the car is the quickest form of transport,and these days time is SO important,not just for the business man but for the private individual as well! and an extra 4 hrs on the working day for many is NO joke! Add to this the outrageous expense of deregulated public transport these days (thank you Maggie) it is just NOT an option!
However, IF you are one of the pampered few mentioned above,and your aims are to reduce car use by the plebs', and you cannot regulate the price,route or frequency of "privatised" public transport (thank you again Maggie,)then your only option is to make car use as EXPENSIVE!(esculating fuel tax,) as TROUBLESOME! (i.e. speedcamera's etc) and SLOWER! by lower speed limits, and UN-ENGINEERING roads as you describe.
It really IS in MY view "open warfare" on the motorists by the politicians.
We, the motoring public should let them Know that ANY political party that threatens us like this will NOT get our vote again.
But be in NO DOUBT as to whom your enemy is, these things are decided at "WORLD SUMMITS" "G9" and European levels, not just your local/National Politico's!
Sorry!
I think I'll go and lay down for a while. Y'Know, I think I must be getting better! I don't think I swore Fu
ng once during that! 
I read the title and thought "Don't the UN have more important things to sort out?"Highway engineers have a harder time than many of you know. Its a continual balance of safety and traffic flow and on some occasions we are stuck between a rather large and heavy rock and a very very hard place indeed.
Add 1 second extra for pedestrians to get across a crossing and you drop traffic flow. Take a second off the time for pedestrians and you get some OAP run down by some boy racer playing traffic light grand prix.
If one approch is suffering long delays, you can give it extra green time but you have to get that time from another approach.
If the government, in their infinite wisdom, decide having two lanes convergeing after a set of signals is bad we have to abide by that. we can either drop it down to one lane through the lights or make it a two lane road for much further "down stream".
We do our best to keep the traffic moving, we are the ones who take the battering when it goes wrong. We are drivers too, and we get to experiance the problems just like everyone else.
Of course mistakes are made but the majority of the time we are damned if we do and damned if we dont.
If you want to blame someone, blame the numpties who cant drive and crash because they cant grasp the concept of how to use our road network. Blame the lawyers and the "blame/claim" culture that means they take legal action when they do mess up, because they cant accept responsibility for their own actions. Or blame the government for pandering to them and effectively saying that we need to make idiot proof road systems and that we cant build more roads to improve capacity.
/rant off
Add 1 second extra for pedestrians to get across a crossing and you drop traffic flow. Take a second off the time for pedestrians and you get some OAP run down by some boy racer playing traffic light grand prix.
If one approch is suffering long delays, you can give it extra green time but you have to get that time from another approach.
If the government, in their infinite wisdom, decide having two lanes convergeing after a set of signals is bad we have to abide by that. we can either drop it down to one lane through the lights or make it a two lane road for much further "down stream".
We do our best to keep the traffic moving, we are the ones who take the battering when it goes wrong. We are drivers too, and we get to experiance the problems just like everyone else.
Of course mistakes are made but the majority of the time we are damned if we do and damned if we dont.
If you want to blame someone, blame the numpties who cant drive and crash because they cant grasp the concept of how to use our road network. Blame the lawyers and the "blame/claim" culture that means they take legal action when they do mess up, because they cant accept responsibility for their own actions. Or blame the government for pandering to them and effectively saying that we need to make idiot proof road systems and that we cant build more roads to improve capacity.
/rant off
chief-0369 said:
Add 1 second extra for pedestrians to get across a crossing and you drop traffic flow. Take a second off the time for pedestrians and you get some OAP run down by some boy racer playing traffic light grand prix.
Near my house, they've just filled in a perfectly good subway under a major road and put traffic lights in instead. The pedestrian crossing light is on for ages, rightly so as there are three lanes to cross. The resulting traffic jam can be enormous.
Undoubtably there was a reason for filling in the subway, be it cost of maintenance, security at night or whatever but all the motorist sees is the traffic planners making a pefectly good road into a huge traffic jam.
Perhaps if the reasoning behind the traffic management was better conveyed to the public, they would be more understanding.
Ian A.
chief-0369 said:
Highway engineers have a harder time than many of you know. Its a continual balance of safety and traffic flow
snip
We do our best to keep the traffic moving,
snip
Of course mistakes are made but the majority of the time we are damned if we do and damned if we dont.
If you want to blame someone, blame the numpties who cant drive and crash because they cant grasp the concept of how to use our road network. Blame the lawyers and the "blame/claim" culture that means they take legal action when they do mess up, because they cant accept responsibility for their own actions. Or blame the government for pandering to them and effectively saying that we need to make idiot proof road systems and that we cant build more roads to improve capacity.
/rant off
Having used up my quota of one silly post / thread above time to get serious.
I can't totally let the above go without comment.
Someone, Please someone explain the sense behind the following completely TRUE scenario ………
Cycle lane put on road which is so steep uphill cyclists don't even go that way.
Thus no longer space for two lanes at traffic lights at top of hill.
Previously lane 1 SO & TL, lane 2 TR only
So traffic now reduced to one lane for everyone,
Thus right turning traffic now blocks everyone up.
Therefore right turns banned.
Now right turning traffic has to find another route.
Residents on the new route for right turning traffic complain about…. Yes increased traffic, what a surprise!
So speed bumps and traffic calming installed.
Residents now complain about traffic calming and speed bumps.
Big plan to do away with everything, build a ferking big roundabout in place of traffic lights.
Thrown out by planning due to roundabout will remove G2 listed building and some trees.
Furious activity to get protected tree status or whatever its called.
Everything throws hands up and run around in circles shouting "Well we don't know what the devil we shall do. It's the fault of idiot drivers, nimby residents, stupid politicians, HMG, the EU, George dubbelya Bush, Oliver Cromwell, the Spanish Inquisition……"
PAINT OUT THE CYCLE LANE AND RESTORE THE RIGHT TURN YOU FECKWITS!!!!!!! 
OK we have had a week or two now with this filter lane un engineered from two to a single lane, and what is the conclusion?, well there are now massive tailbacks along the main Trunk Road as people are queing to join the right turn filter!, also about 4/5 Vehicles now are so p****d off they cross on the RED light!, so how has this exercise improved road safety?.............it aint!
Why not write the following letter to them.
Dear sir or madam,
At Insert location here the council altered a single lane traffic light filter from one lane to two lanes, this really helped to move the traffic across the junction, blending/filtering etc from the two lanes into one.
Recently, the road has been resurfaced and gone back to two lanes whilst shortening the "green" light phase!
This has led to a permanent tailback on the main trunkroad of motorists waiting to turn at said filter!!
Now things have got so bad that the red light is being ignored. This is not people acting irresponsibly, but the actions necessary to allow traffic flow.
I accept that even the council make mistakes such as this from time to time, but I would appreciate it if you would arrange to reinstate the junction back to it's former safe state as soon as is reasonably possible.
I believe that if an accident were to occur due to this example of poor engineering the council may well be liable and this letter may be used as proof of the councils awareness in a court of law. Sent recorded delivery this day etc.
Yours with a hint of blackmail
Dear sir or madam,
At Insert location here the council altered a single lane traffic light filter from one lane to two lanes, this really helped to move the traffic across the junction, blending/filtering etc from the two lanes into one.
Recently, the road has been resurfaced and gone back to two lanes whilst shortening the "green" light phase!
This has led to a permanent tailback on the main trunkroad of motorists waiting to turn at said filter!!
Now things have got so bad that the red light is being ignored. This is not people acting irresponsibly, but the actions necessary to allow traffic flow.
I accept that even the council make mistakes such as this from time to time, but I would appreciate it if you would arrange to reinstate the junction back to it's former safe state as soon as is reasonably possible.
I believe that if an accident were to occur due to this example of poor engineering the council may well be liable and this letter may be used as proof of the councils awareness in a court of law. Sent recorded delivery this day etc.
Yours with a hint of blackmail
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