Gantry Signs - Motorway Closed at A6XXX road etc WTF

[cptsideways]

What is it with the overhead gantries saying the road/junction is closed at XYZ road when unless you are local its means nothing? Are you supposed to get your map out & work out where & how far ahead such a road or junction is at?

Why cant it just say closed 10 miles ahead which would be 10x more useful.

[Glosphil]

I think it is telling you the nearest problem (on ANY motorway)to your current position. Regularly when at the Southampton end of the M3 the gantry signs are reporting problems on the M25. Also when on the M4 near Swindon a problem at the M25/M11 junction was being reported.

[saaby93]

Glosphil said:

I think it is telling you the nearest problem (on ANY motorway)to your current position.

That'll explain it
It makes you panic though. The Axxx is closed! Oh no does that mean I'm about to hit a tail back?
No - it's a road 200 miles away

[Fox-]

I always think this as well. Wish we had mile markers or something like they do in the USA.

I once drove past loads of signs saying 'A419 closed after A429'. I had no idea where the A429 was.

I then found the road closed. Great. Useful. If it said 'A419 closed after mile 45' and I've just driven past Mile marker 39 I'd have instantly known it was closed ahead..

[mattshiz]

The gantry signs are next to useless. Coming home from work on the M42 it said a junction was closed miles away, what it didn't mention was as soon as you took the slip road to join the M6 there was stationary traffic backed up all the way from J5.

Thanks HA, I could have just stayed on the M42 and got home long before midnight.

[cptsideways]

saaby93 said:

Glosphil said:

I think it is telling you the nearest problem (on ANY motorway)to your current position.

That'll explain it
It makes you panic though. The Axxx is closed! Oh no does that mean I'm about to hit a tail back?
No - it's a road 200 miles away

Except quoting a road number is next to useless unless you know every road number that crosses every motorway network!

[TooMany2cvs]

cptsideways said:

Except quoting a road number is next to useless unless you know every road number that crosses every motorway network!

One of the side-effects of the reliance on SatNavs.

But what would you rather the sign said, given the very limited message length?

[Fox-]

TooMany2cvs said:

One of the side-effects of the reliance on SatNavs.

But what would you rather the sign said, given the very limited message length?

Mileage to closure?

Why don't we use mile markers here?

[xcentric]

I think they are the result of a late night prank in government that someone took seriously.

They often state the ridiculous:

"Spray - slow down"

"Fog"

"Don't fall asleep"

"Drive carefully"

I've yet to find anything useful on an overhead gantry sign. Patronising phrases hardly help road safety.

[TooMany2cvs]

Fox- said:

Mileage to closure?

I couldn't tell you offhand how far from <say> Northampton to Sheffield on the M1, but I definitely know whether the A38 is before or after Sheffield.

Fox- said:

Why don't we use mile markers here?

We do.

Edited by TooMany2cvs on Sunday 8th June 11:56

[Dixy]

Why don't they put an arrow on the kilometre markers pointing to the nearest emergency phone.

[Fox-]

TooMany2cvs said:

I couldn't tell you offhand how far from <say> Northampton to Sheffield on the M1.

You don't need to know, 'A38 CLOSED IN 17 MILES' when driving down the M5 past Collumpton is far more useful than the actual sign I encountered last Sunday night which said 'A38 CLOSED AFTER A380'. I was ok on that as I'm local and I know the A380. Many people do not.

[VR6T Gar]

Fox- said:

You don't need to know, 'A38 CLOSED IN 17 MILES' when driving down the M5 past Collumpton is far more useful than the actual sign I encountered last Sunday night which said 'A38 CLOSED AFTER A380'. I was ok on that as I'm local and I know the A380. Many people do not.

Exactly this. When I drive down the A30 or A38 and get given some random road number where there are problems it is of no help whatsoever, funnily enough I don't have an encyclopaedic knowledge of all the roads in Devon and Cornwall.
Now if they gave some other clue after the road number such as the nearest Town or City to which the road is located it would let me know if I need to pull over and figure out on Google maps on my phone if it will be a problem for me.

[bigandclever]

Dixy said:

Why don't they put an arrow on the kilometre markers pointing to the nearest emergency phone.

The older ones do, of course. I suppose it's an acceptance that the majority have mobile phones these days.

[saaby93]

Fox- said:

'A38 CLOSED IN 17 MILES' when driving down the M5 past Collumpton is far more useful than the actual sign I encountered last Sunday night which said 'A38 CLOSED AFTER A380'.

Its so true but why isnt it obvious?

[EngageSportMode]

xcentric said:

I think they are the result of a late night prank in government that someone took seriously.

They often state the ridiculous:

"Spray - slow down"

"Fog"

"Don't fall asleep"

"Drive carefully"

I've yet to find anything useful on an overhead gantry sign. Patronising phrases hardly help road safety.

Personal favourite is "Take your litter home" or similar.

I realise there's loads of people quite happy to fling crap out of their cars, but a patronising gantry message isn't really going to stop them.

[24lemons]

I've always been amused by the ones around Glasgow. For years they have been displaying stuff like 'obey the speed limit' or 'wear your seatbelt' It's so inane I'm half expecting to see Father Ted and Dougal at the side of the road with their 'Careful Now' banner!

[vrsmxtb]

EngageSportMode said:

xcentric said:

I think they are the result of a late night prank in government that someone took seriously.

They often state the ridiculous:

"Spray - slow down"

"Fog"

"Don't fall asleep"

"Drive carefully"

I've yet to find anything useful on an overhead gantry sign. Patronising phrases hardly help road safety.

Personal favourite is "Take your litter home" or similar.

I realise there's loads of people quite happy to fling crap out of their cars, but a patronising gantry message isn't really going to stop them.

It's even worse now as more and more councils are adopting this finger wagging, sheeple baiting nonsense - "Take your litter home - other people do".

[MajorProblem]

I suppose there is not enough room to say,

Lanes closed, accident ahead slow 20mph
Actually cleared four hours ago

[TooMany2cvs]

Fox- said:

TooMany2cvs said:

I couldn't tell you offhand how far from <say> Northampton to Sheffield on the M1.

You don't need to know, 'A38 CLOSED IN 17 MILES' when driving down the M5 past Collumpton is far more useful than the actual sign I encountered last Sunday night which said 'A38 CLOSED AFTER A380'. I was ok on that as I'm local and I know the A380. Many people do not.

And when the sign's on the M25, coming up to Heathrow, and says "A1 closed in 180 miles"?