Forth Road Bridge after work each evening

[Halmyre]

dxg said:

They're going nuts in the comments on the Scotsman (as per usual, then...) about this.

The Scotsman is reporting months of delays, but there doesn't seem to be a source...
https://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/queensferr...

I found a source here:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/ne...

"...the director responsible for the bridge said further restrictions will be in place at times until September.

Michelle Rennie told the Scottish Parliament's rural economy and connectivity committee today that Transport Scotland had "consistently" said finishing and snagging works would be required.

She said: "The contract allows for those works to happen up until next September, at no additional cost."

So the contract allowing up until September is being spun as definitely up until September.

That's not to say disruption won't happen after September of course, at additional cost this time.

[AndrewEH1]

dxg said:

Ah, come now. The hilarity of the comments is all that makes the Scotsman worth reading these days. After all, all they have are two or three journalist-derived stories, with the rest (such as their entire business section) being regurgitated press releases... It's a terrible shame. The Scotsman used to be good.

It is rather depressing how far The Scotsman (and Evening News) have fallen since even the early/mid 2000s. Sold all their properties and now rent a floor or two in an office block.

[alangla]

Looks like the first day of the closure has been fun.
First a crash on the old bridge - https://twitter.com/trafficscotland/status/9365400...
then an emergency repair underneath requiring lane closures! https://twitter.com/trafficscotland/status/9365821...

The first one is unavoidable, but the second, unless it was related to the first, seems a bit careless - surely it was checked yesterday. Surely...

[BuzzBravado]

moanthebairns said:

I'll give it till the end of the month before someone looses it at 70 mph with the change in camber on the south bound approach.

I drove across this bit on Sunday to get back to Edinburgh. My immediate thought was the same, this is going to cause a fair bit lift off oversteer. It felt so weird driving round a bend with an offside camber.

[ninja-lewis]

Queensferry Crossing to be 70mph limit from Tuesday

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-pol...

[Driver101]

I didn't see that coming.

[tvrolet]

It'll last until the first big southbound crash on the north side. I give it about a month. And/or I'm going to guess the 'smart motorway' overhead sign speed limits will 50 for a large part of the time regardless of the 70 limit. Cynical? Moi?

BTW any idea why it's only lit for the first few hundred yards across north and south? The old bridge has streetlights the whole way across, and the approach roads either side are fully lit, so why no lighting in the middle?

[Driver101]

tvrolet said:

It'll last until the first big southbound crash on the north side. I give it about a month. And/or I'm going to guess the 'smart motorway' overhead sign speed limits will 50 for a large part of the time regardless of the 70 limit. Cynical? Moi?

BTW any idea why it's only lit for the first few hundred yards across north and south? The old bridge has streetlights the whole way across, and the approach roads either side are fully lit, so why no lighting in the middle?

People would be dizzy watching them the full distance?

I'm sure the lights were on right across it one night I went over. The positioning of them just doesn't sit well with me either. It's not a nice effect the way they are on eye level.

[Patrick Bateman]

Is that approach southbound really that bad?

I drove north over it the other day and it was all good but have never driven south over it.

[ScotsDave]

Driver101 said:

People would be dizzy watching them the full distance?

I'm sure the lights were on right across it one night I went over. The positioning of them just doesn't sit well with me either. It's not a nice effect the way they are on eye level.

The lights have the effect of making it seem there's a disco light on the back seat - they seem to rotate over the headlining, very weird and distracting. They might even be dangerous to anyone who suffers from epilepsy.

There isn't lighting all the way across.

[ScotsDave]

tvrolet said:

It'll last until the first big southbound crash on the north side. I give it about a month. And/or I'm going to guess the 'smart motorway' overhead sign speed limits will 50 for a large part of the time regardless of the 70 limit. Cynical? Moi?

I agree - first bump and all hell will break loose and a speed reduction will be put in place.

Mind you, the only time you'll get near 70 will be in the middle of the night.

[Halmyre]

Patrick Bateman said:

Is that approach southbound really that bad?

I drove north over it the other day and it was all good but have never driven south over it.

Only the driving gods of PH will be able to negotiate it safely. Mere mortals will die in a flaming fireball.

[Davie]

Had a quick run over to South Queensferry this morning around 10am and my first crack at the new 70mph limit... the approach from the north is a bit patchy, hardly the most flowing section of tarmac but such is life. The traffic was light but there was still some roaster doing 40mph being passed by somebody doing 48mph and who refused to move left again until about 200yds from the South Queensferry slip, despite lane 1 being empty.

Return trip was better, 70mph all the way across however the two metal jointing sections that run diagonally across the road just at the first bend after the bridge are a bit sketchy... the car definitely had a wee shimmy as it crossed them at 70 and I can see them catching some out, more so on stiff cars as there's a wee bounce evident as you cross and as for being on a bike... well, good luck.

Definitely better and would be better still if people a) drove faster and b) returned left after overtaking...

[dxg]

Davie said:

Definitely better and would be better still if people a) drove faster

hehe - did you remember that you're in Scotland? I remain *amazed* at how slow they drive on empty motorways whenever I'm up there. 50 on an empty motorway (particularly the one across to Fife) is depressingly common.

[Driver101]

dxg said:

Davie said:

Definitely better and would be better still if people a) drove faster

hehe - did you remember that you're in Scotland? I remain *amazed* at how slow they drive on empty motorways whenever I'm up there. 50 on an empty motorway (particularly the one across to Fife) is depressingly common.

What motorway was that?

[dxg]

Why, the A92 of course!

[simoid]

See the Queensferry Crossing is shut to high sided vehicles - wonder if it’ll be ignored as readily as the old bridge.

PS wouldn’t have been closed if they’d built a tunnel

[dxg]

But I thought this new shiny bridge has new shiny wind deflectors...

[Davie]

dxg said:

But I thought this new shiny bridge has new shiny wind deflectors...

Add them to the list of things including uplighters, downlighters, LED lighters and whatever else has been bolted to it to distract your average motorist and reduce their speeds to woefully low levels... honestly, I've never seen anyways else as bad as the bridge for people sat in the overtaking lane at 45mph, inside lane clear and will continue to dawdle round past Dakota before they take the hint and move. Oddly northbound doesn't seem as bad, aside for those that exit the "ahem" 50mph curve and remain in the overtaking lane... at 50mph...

By no means do I think we should be crossing it at three figures but it does seem to attract it's fare share of vacant or perhaps stubborn drivers and that doesn't really help keep things following nicely.

[colin79666]

I'm surprise someone hasn't had an epileptic fit when crossing at night The lighting near then ends is awful between the strobe affect and the fact the dazzle you rather than putting light onto the road surface.