Re: Smart Motorways

I totally agree. I was on one recently when a van broke down in front, in the inside lane, no-one would let me out and I had visions of a lorry ploughing into the back of me.

Re: Smart Motorways

At every junction people suddenly realise that they have to return to the main carrigeway and just pull out without looking in many cases.

Re: Smart Motorways

Exactly.

Half-measures yet again.

It takes months and months, years in some cases, to 'convert' the hard shoulder to a usable extra lane which, quite often, will actually be unusable (in the case of an accident, for example).

If these people could see beyond the ends of their noses, they'd add an extra lane AND a hard shoulder. Yes, it would cost more but on the other hand it would function efficiently for longer once completed.

This is a common way of dealing with things in this country: spend as little as possible (temporary filling of pot holes is the same) and then have to do it all again in a few years.

Re: Smart Motorways

Wish I knew the solution. Maybe some more toll roads to by-pass the really congested lengths of motorway? With a bit of imagination, these or similar could be constructed as flyovers with the central reservation being used to build the support structures? Or, heaven forbid, tunnels under existing motorways if we want them out of sight. After all, tunnelling under the English Channel and rivers was possible and I'd imagine a darn sight more complex. Such a construction could be completed with minimal disruption to existing motorways, surely?

The new bridge over the Manchester Ship Canal is a case in point. Having made such a horlicks of trying to get their maths right (with the result of a collapse of the intended raised section), and since the canal itself isn't particularly deep, a tunnel would have been the better solution.

I'm all for them (no doubt someone will explain why it wouldn't be possible). The newish road along the North Welsh coast is a case in point. Sure, it's easier to get to places, but the road itself and the noise created makes one less likely to actually want to go there. For example, Penmaenmawr used to be quite beautiful and had a gorgeous sandy beach. The new road is a concrete monstrosity and hardly anyone ever goes there nowadays as it's so ugly and loud. For the record, the promenade which was reconstructed having put the road over the original one, is the only one to be built in the 20th century. Wild fact for you.

Re: Smart Motorways

I agree that we definitely need more roads, but our authorities don't like to spend money, at least on useful things like that. They're good at wasting money, though.

Toll roads, or more of them, could be a good thing. Whenever we need to get past Birmingham (and who wouldn't want to?!) we pay a few quid and use the M6 Toll. It's so pleasant to be able to drive along a motorway like they used to be in the 1950s and '60s, especially when you then see the sheeple queuing on the M6 as it re-joins the toll road!

Actually, I think it is crying out for another to the west of Birmingham, linking the M6 to the M5.

One argument I hear about more motorways is that there isn't enough land available. Funny, then, that there seems to be plenty of land available for that white elephant, the HS2, which I'm sure most people will not pay any extra for to save a measly 20 minutes or so.

Re: Smart Motorways

Instead of wasting money on the HS2 which will only benefit people wanting to knock a few minutes of their journey to Birmingham why don't they build railways alongside motorways.
One line for freight and the other for passengers and make it cheaper than diesel for the same journey. Imagine how many lorries and cars would be taken off the road with a single train.

Re: Smart Motorways

Yes, I've often thought that lorries would be better used only for local deliveries and freight trains for longer distances. Unfortunately, that Beeching gentleman closed far too many rail lines.

Re: Smart Motorways

I've often thought that canals could be re-established for non-perishable goods.

I for one would happily work for the minimum wage (plus expenses) and live on a canal boat.

Re: Smart Motorways

I can see the attraction too, but I think that canal transport of freight is far too slow for today's insistence on "I want it now".

Canals were excellent in pre-railway days, particularly for fragile goods. Trying to transport such things on those early roads, which were little more than dirt tracks, was a risky business!

Come to think of it, it is my experience that many of our roads today are not much better than those early ones. In the rare locations where there are no potholes, there are humps. I sometimes wonder whether there is a case for tracked vehicles on today's roads. That's another topic, though.

Re: Smart Motorways

I like the idea. Perhaps tramlines along the slow lane, with stops with good transport links from junctions, or even fleets of hire cars at junctions for short term hire, bit like those Manchester bike thingies.