Forth Road Bridge after work each evening

Forth Road Bridge after work each evening

Author
Discussion

AndrewEH1

4,917 posts

152 months

Tuesday 28th March 2017
quotequote all
Although it was originally planned to be opened in August 2017.

Honestly it was pretty dumb to move the date forward at all!

s2kjock

1,677 posts

146 months

Tuesday 28th March 2017
quotequote all
I'm struggling with this "adverse weather" thing.

As far as I recall this has been a very "soft" winter.

Do they mean the weather for the past 6 months has been "adverse" in so much as it was winter rather than summer, and this was not foreseen?

Halmyre

11,148 posts

138 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
quotequote all
Opening date "mid July to end of August".

So that'll be end of August then.

No doubt the installation of the average speed cameras on the A90 won't be delayed though.

s.

ScotsDave

107 posts

201 months

Wednesday 29th March 2017
quotequote all
Halmyre said:
Opening date "mid July to end of August".

So that'll be end of August then.

No doubt the installation of the average speed cameras on the A90 won't be delayed though.

s.
Maybe they've found corrosion in the Chinese steel already. hehe

BlackLabel

13,251 posts

122 months

Tuesday 29th August 2017
quotequote all
It's ready.




Davie

4,732 posts

214 months

Tuesday 29th August 2017
quotequote all
I'm one of the tragic masses that's walking over it on Saturday... assuming we don't get the tail end of the hurricane in America and it's closed.

Quite looking forward to it... sharing said experience with 50,000 others may test my patience but such is life!

Be interesting to see how the traffic flows north and south once opened and how it fares in crappy weather.

dxg

8,121 posts

259 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
Anyone use it this morning?

Sadly, I'm not in that part of the world much these days but remain massively interested. Drove over the old bridge last weekend in the dark and was massively disappointed to not see any lighting on the piers or the cables. Just assumed that would be there. From what I can work out, there just isn't any.

Also amusing that Traffic Scotland haven't got any publicly available cameras on the new bridge - just the old, empty one. Sums up Scottish Government, I guess: https://trafficscotland.org/map/index.aspx?type=26

dxg

8,121 posts

259 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
There is this, though:

https://www.transport.gov.scot/projects/forth-repl...

It's looking good...

Glasgowrob

3,232 posts

120 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
spoke to my old man whos used it this morning, nearly 3 hours Kirkcaldy to Glasgow today frown

Davie

4,732 posts

214 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
There's still tailbacks on the M90 southbound up past Rosyth / Inverkeithing... probably couldn't have been a worse start for the new bridge what with a wagon breaking down mid span this morning which has created chaos which has been compounded by the number of people doing tourist laps for the hell of it... makes you wonder why, given the volume of traffic that will be seeking to use it today, why they don't run both bridges until early next week especially as they're closing the new bridge again over the weekend then reopening Monday.

On the plus side, a colleague came over from the Lothians and despite the slow traffic northbound too and his observations that once on the bridge, there's not much to see (maybe a good thing) but he did point out that given it's a continuous span and thus there are no longer suspension destroying, utter unpleasant sections to smash over...


salguod

60 posts

121 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
Davie said:
...why they don't run both bridges until early next week especially as they're closing the new bridge again over the weekend then reopening Monday.
That would probably make things even worse where they converge.

Went over both ways this morning to drop something off at a client for work in Dalgety Bay. Northbound I missed the queue that was right back to the M9 by going out Queensferry road and Southbound I nipped through Inverkeithing so neither way was too bad for me. And apart from one or two who were clearly going for a jolly, most seemed to be people going to/from work.

The road layout northbound whilst good on paper only makes it easier for queue jumpers to cut in last minute or to go up the slip road, over the roundabout and then straight back on, even moreso than the old bridge.

ScotsDave

107 posts

201 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
Hmmm....hearing stories of 2 1/2 hour delays southbound and an hour northbound.

Claims of a broken down lorry caused chaos this morning but there's a hard shoulder so shouldn't have caused as much delays as that surely.

Looking forward to my Monday journey to Livingston - I feel I'll either get there 1/2 hour early or 1 1/2 hours late.

The main problem has always been the 3 slip roads southbound onto the M90/A90 causing congestion. The bridge usually flowed not too bad. Northbound, the problem was the A90 and M9 Spur - 4 lanes into 2 will always cause mayhem.

emicen

8,558 posts

217 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
The story seems to vary between; it broke down in lane 1 and needed towed, hard shoulder was coned off, hard shoulder didn't fit the truck.

Glasgowrob

3,232 posts

120 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
emicen said:
The story seems to vary between; it broke down in lane 1 and needed towed, hard shoulder was coned off, hard shoulder didn't fit the truck.
if that's the case utterly lolworthy

Davie

4,732 posts

214 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
salguod said:
And apart from one or two who were clearly going for a jolly, most seemed to be people going to/from work.
Traffic Scotland are reporting that the traffic is much heavier than normal so I'm pretty sure that a lot of it will be made of those going for the hell of it. There's also much Facebook chatter about "having a run over the new bridge" and the traffic has been crawling down the M90 past Rosyth since early doors and as I type, shows no signs of changing any time soon. Been based around here five years now and never seen the slow traffic last so long in to the day, even when the old bridge suffered a lane closure during the morning commute, the tailbacks would usually clear by the back of 9.

"The crossing is essentially an extension of the M90 motorway across the Forth with a 70mph speed limit, although operators said an initial 40mph limit will be in place when the bridge first opens to take account of ‘driver distraction"

Can't but help think this may not happen!

My other half is away south and said that she was barely doing 30mph over the bridge this morning, so that plus an increased traffic volume is probably the reason for the tailbacks... always thought the bridge was a pinch point, not just due tot he slips roads so close to the old bridge itself but the fact traffic is slowed from motorway speeds and thus it just bottle necks. Assuming the new bridge goes to 70mph t'll help traffic flow faster but I very much doubt such speeds will be doable in heavy traffic... us Brits seems to struggle with keeping traffic flowing.

Also read that it closes again Friday AM then reopens next Thursday?








Edited by Davie on Wednesday 30th August 14:14

codenamecueball

529 posts

88 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
dxg said:
Anyone use it this morning?

Sadly, I'm not in that part of the world much these days but remain massively interested. Drove over the old bridge last weekend in the dark and was massively disappointed to not see any lighting on the piers or the cables. Just assumed that would be there. From what I can work out, there just isn't any.

Also amusing that Traffic Scotland haven't got any publicly available cameras on the new bridge - just the old, empty one. Sums up Scottish Government, I guess: https://trafficscotland.org/map/index.aspx?type=26
Was in the first 50 to go Southbound I'm pretty sure. Got stuck beside an unmarked copper car and ended up being shouted at when my friend hung out the window with a bottle of prosecco for the waiting media.

Janluke

2,552 posts

157 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
I was told last night that the new bridge is closing for up to a month within the next 2 weeks. Anyone else heard this?

S2red

2,507 posts

190 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
It closes for weekend to let 50,000 folk have a walk over it

Wish I'd got tickets for it

ninja-lewis

4,226 posts

189 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
Janluke said:
I was told last night that the new bridge is closing for up to a month within the next 2 weeks. Anyone else heard this?
The Forth Road Bridge is closing for a couple weeks so they can adapt it into a public transcript corridor (signage, markings, replacing temporary cones with permanent barriers and probably taking the opportunity to do some of the bigger maintenance jobs that are a pain with traffic on the bridge etc). Once it reopens in late October/November, the Queensferry Crossing will officially become a motorway and the temporary 40mph limit will be removed.

tvrolet

4,251 posts

281 months

Wednesday 30th August 2017
quotequote all
REPLACEMENT 2-LANE BRIDGE DOES SOD-ALL TO ALLEVIATE CONGESTION CAUSED BY PREVIOUS 2-LANE BRIDGE SHOCKER

I only have to use the bridge one a week or so to get to the airport, and today was one of these mornings. So I was crossing at about 5:45 which I expect was earlier than too many of the rubber-neckers...and certainly before any breakdown and the hold-ups were worse than the old bridge - and why wouldn't they be - it's still just 2 lanes with only a handful of busses less. How long after the collective back-slapping will there be the realisation that it doesn't have the necessary capacity? And even that that time the approach roads either end were 'complete' and finished with no cones or other obvious roadworks still in progress.

Being a cynic I can't help but think that the 40 limit has been to sucker everyone in to getting used to it, so a higher limit seems great. But remember the 'good old days' when the original Road Bridge had a 70mph limit too - and it still had snarl-ups.

ninja-lewis said:
Once it reopens in late October/November, the Queensferry Crossing will officially become a motorway and the temporary 40mph limit will be removed.
Now that I await with baited breath. The approach road on the north end has some fairly tight turns for a 70mph motorway plus a relatively short slip road. Assuming it does ever go BACK to 70mph, I'm speculating it won't last long - until someone bins as they undoubtedly will.

Then approaching the bridge there's an expansion joint a few feet wide on the corner/bend itself which appeared (in the early morning) to be metal? Assuming it is, only a matter of time again before some biker bins it on a wet morning on the bend.

So yes, it looks nice and no doubt an engineering marvel...in the same vein as the Kelpies perhaps. But I can't help but think it will have the same effect as the Kelpies at alleviating the congestion..