M3 Nightmare Continues!
Discussion
ote=ffc]
What is the difference? benawhile said:
ffc I couldn't say whether this is normal, all I can say is that the scheduled closures don't start until 8 pm.
The motorway wasn't closed nor were there any signs saying it would be, it's just that J3 was very congested.Closure is pretty much routine after 20.00, it isn't close to being finished despite what the two incompetents watching a bloke with a shovel say, and any closure is surely an admission of non-completion?
It's been a total f*ck-up for more than 3 years - why not just admit defeat when you have already missed 2 posted dead-lines?
Shambolic would be higher praise than it deserves.
FurryExocet said:
I bet you no one has seen a Highways England vehicle along the M3 since it opened!!
I wouldn't know what one looked like. Thought they were extinct!FurryExocet said:
It's not going to be fixed anytime soon. It took me 1hr30 minutes to get to an accident at junction 3 the other morning, I was shattered!
That's ridiculous. When the whole idea of running without a hard shoulder was conceived, how did they think emergency services were supposed to get to the scene of an incident? Presumably you just have to work your way through the standstill hoping people will hear/see you and move to the side?How can this be an improvement?
FurtiveFreddy said:
...how did they think emergency services were supposed to get to the scene of an incident? ...
In Germany they have the concept of the 'Emergency Corridor' where if there is slow/stationary traffic you have to drive/park at the edge of the lane so there is a large gap up the middle of the road for emergency vehicles.I doubt you could implement such a concept from scratch in this country....
Well. After having to endure going up an empty M3 at 50 yesterday for most of way between A303 and M25, and then being given a detour just before ten PM as M3/M25 junction closed again for upgrades (been going on for at least 7 months?), I flippin' well hope this "smart" motorway can outwit Stephen Hawking.
Can anyone sum up benefit in a sentence or so?
Can anyone sum up benefit in a sentence or so?
Thank you for contacting Highways England Information Line your reference: 18459920. This has been forwarded to us as we are the contractor carrying out the M3 junctions 2 to 4a smart motorway works.
The smart motorway opened on Friday 30 June as All-Lane Running, at a controlled 50mph speed limit for all vehicles. Part of handing over a smart motorway into operations, involves running 4 lanes at the reduced speed limit. During this period the new installed technology and electronic systems have to be tested and commissioned appropriately to ensure everything is fully functional and meets all operational requirements. Within the month the speed restriction will be removed operating at national speed limit and variable speed as and when necessary to manage flows.
Alongside upgrading the M3 to a smart motorway, Highways England made the decision to undertake additional maintenance and renewal work of a large amount of existing infrastructure, some of which included Woodlands Lane Bridge, drainage repairs and full low noise resurfacing. Carrying these works in conjunction is more efficient and cost effective and will minimise future disruption to residents and the travelling public in the area. As a result this added six months to the original programme. This does not mean the M3 smart motorway upgrade is late or overrun, but the project took longer due to this extra work.
Whilst we have delivered most of this additional work in parallel with the smart motorway works, the work to reconstruct Woodlands Lane Bridge and other minor works unconnected with the smart motorway upgrade will continue after the 30 June. We will be using overnight lane and carriageway closures to complete the works and expect to open the new Woodlands Lane Bridge by winter 2017/18.
We are working really very hard to reduce the overnight carriageway closures to lane closures, we utilise the overnight closures and carry out more than one activity in between junctions 2 and 4a which cannot allow lane closures as it is unsafe. Once we can restrict these closures to lanes only, this should reduce the impact on yourself and other members of the travelling public.
We hope this assists with your query, should you have any further queries with regards to the M3 junctions 2 to 4a project please do email us at: communityrelationsM3j2-4a@balfourbeatty.com.
Best Regards
Community Relations Team
I didn't spot any workpersons(!) when I went from J4 to J2 yesterday around 14.15, but maybe it was tea-break time.
Mind you the gantries were working which they weren't a week ago.
Didn't spot anything when I came home at 23.30 because it was shut just for a change, so I had to use the A3, A31 and A331 as usual!
I'll only regard it as finished when they stop closing it!
Mind you the gantries were working which they weren't a week ago.
Didn't spot anything when I came home at 23.30 because it was shut just for a change, so I had to use the A3, A31 and A331 as usual!
I'll only regard it as finished when they stop closing it!
AlexRS2782 said:
I see Balfour were one of the companies given a golden billion £££ handshake by the government today by being named as one of the HS2 contractors.
I guess that confirms that project will never be delivered on time either
Just a bit of useless information... well not if your a relative or an operative on their sites.I guess that confirms that project will never be delivered on time either
Balfour have the worst safety record for a major construction company which has resulted in
the deaths of over 7 workers in as many years.
One was on this M3 Contract, and 3 men were nearly killed having suffered severe electric shock
when the lighting tower came into contact with a 33kv overhead cable near Frimley last month.
That is totally unacceptable.
Its appears, potentially, as if the planners have taken leave of their senses
The latest update to the M3-M25 clockwise junction, where there is a temporary merge from 2-1 lanes results in massive queues on the M3, is painted lines post the merge point, which seem to indicate the 2-1 merge is going to be permanent. Bearing in mind that round the sliproad bend between the two motorways was 2 lanes before all this work started, it seems a massive retrograde step back, especially as its not going to make a blind bit of difference to the 'improvements' made to the M3. The queue on the M3 was the longest I've seem it in ages at rush hour this morning
I hope that I'm wrong with the above, but fear I'm not
The latest update to the M3-M25 clockwise junction, where there is a temporary merge from 2-1 lanes results in massive queues on the M3, is painted lines post the merge point, which seem to indicate the 2-1 merge is going to be permanent. Bearing in mind that round the sliproad bend between the two motorways was 2 lanes before all this work started, it seems a massive retrograde step back, especially as its not going to make a blind bit of difference to the 'improvements' made to the M3. The queue on the M3 was the longest I've seem it in ages at rush hour this morning
I hope that I'm wrong with the above, but fear I'm not
KrisP said:
Its appears, potentially, as if the planners have taken leave of their senses
The latest update to the M3-M25 clockwise junction, where there is a temporary merge from 2-1 lanes results in massive queues on the M3, is painted lines post the merge point, which seem to indicate the 2-1 merge is going to be permanent. Bearing in mind that round the sliproad bend between the two motorways was 2 lanes before all this work started, it seems a massive retrograde step back, especially as its not going to make a blind bit of difference to the 'improvements' made to the M3. The queue on the M3 was the longest I've seem it in ages at rush hour this morning
I hope that I'm wrong with the above, but fear I'm not
I was thinking the same thing the other week - are there any other motorways that go into a single lane? I tend to be driving towards London at rush-hour and the M3 queues southbound are sometimes horrendous. Surely the M3 is the main carriageway and should continue as 2-lane from just after the partition with M25 sliproad, and the sliproads joining in from the M25 should merge in to the new lane(s)? Like you, I feel this will be a permanent feature. The latest update to the M3-M25 clockwise junction, where there is a temporary merge from 2-1 lanes results in massive queues on the M3, is painted lines post the merge point, which seem to indicate the 2-1 merge is going to be permanent. Bearing in mind that round the sliproad bend between the two motorways was 2 lanes before all this work started, it seems a massive retrograde step back, especially as its not going to make a blind bit of difference to the 'improvements' made to the M3. The queue on the M3 was the longest I've seem it in ages at rush hour this morning
I hope that I'm wrong with the above, but fear I'm not
Planet Claire said:
KrisP said:
Its appears, potentially, as if the planners have taken leave of their senses
The latest update to the M3-M25 clockwise junction, where there is a temporary merge from 2-1 lanes results in massive queues on the M3, is painted lines post the merge point, which seem to indicate the 2-1 merge is going to be permanent. Bearing in mind that round the sliproad bend between the two motorways was 2 lanes before all this work started, it seems a massive retrograde step back, especially as its not going to make a blind bit of difference to the 'improvements' made to the M3. The queue on the M3 was the longest I've seem it in ages at rush hour this morning
I hope that I'm wrong with the above, but fear I'm not
I was thinking the same thing the other week - are there any other motorways that go into a single lane? I tend to be driving towards London at rush-hour and the M3 queues southbound are sometimes horrendous. Surely the M3 is the main carriageway and should continue as 2-lane from just after the partition with M25 sliproad, and the sliproads joining in from the M25 should merge in to the new lane(s)? Like you, I feel this will be a permanent feature. The latest update to the M3-M25 clockwise junction, where there is a temporary merge from 2-1 lanes results in massive queues on the M3, is painted lines post the merge point, which seem to indicate the 2-1 merge is going to be permanent. Bearing in mind that round the sliproad bend between the two motorways was 2 lanes before all this work started, it seems a massive retrograde step back, especially as its not going to make a blind bit of difference to the 'improvements' made to the M3. The queue on the M3 was the longest I've seem it in ages at rush hour this morning
I hope that I'm wrong with the above, but fear I'm not
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