Re: Smart Motorways
Originally Posted by
Dextrous63
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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.
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.