Problems with the road network

[Simon Waterfall Syman84]

As some of you know i work in the Highways industry in the technology sector and more recently undertaking R&D and innovation projects for future roll out.

My work with the first connected vehicle trials, solar CCTV, Electric vehicles, inductive charging and road worker safety changes are all great but what next. I'm after some of your good and bad driving experiences to see what could be worked on for the better on the strategic road network, that way its not products looking for a problem but a problem looking for a solution.

I don't mean Simon if i get done for speeding in the westy can you get rid of the evidence trail (I can't by the way), things like phone apps that are actually accurate for telling you when the motorway would be closed for works or delivering an emergency assistance with the use of drones.

i know there will be some daft ideas but often its the real crazy ones that hit the mark.

thanks 

[Alan France]

I think the signs on the new smart motorways need to be far more accurate. I understand that’s people rather than technology but they appear to be wrong at least 50% of the time. 

 

[Rhett Turner - Black Country AO]

what about some sort of lane monitoring system that picks up cars stuck in the middle or outer lane then flashes the reg and car description up and tells them to move over when not over taking. It would help increase road capacity.

[Blatman]

Make overtaking on the left legal on motorways and dual carriageways. No technology required  

If an accident is caused by a car changing lanes and colliding with a vehicle to their left it shall be deemed the fault of the lane changer, a bit like all rear enders are usually the fault of the driver of the vehicle behind. That'll clear a load of congestion.

Ban concrete roads. The M25 southern section in Surrey/Kent is the worst road surface I have ever driven on and on the bike in the wet it's simply dangerous, and I say that with in excess of 800,000 miles under my belt on two wheels, so it's not a lack of experience kicking in here.

Lets have the DoT fix the simple stuff before they go down the route of technological answers that fail to address the fundamentals. No technology is going to fix the M25 concrete surface or the innumerable slap-dash repairs to potholes in tarmac roads that blight our driving lives. Besides, we all know how successful HMG is when it comes to technology...  

[jeff oakley]

I understand technology has its place but to my mind and I do 40k a year there is now simply too much being spent on smart motorways and driverless cars when our road network is in such dire condition.

I drove to Scotland from Bristol last week and the M5 M6 junction is down to 30 mph. I cannot recall over the last 25 years when it has not had road works being done, we should have rebuilt what is clearly a crumbling mess and there must have been 7 or 8 smart projects or road works on the journey. Take some of that technology budget and fix the other bits first.

What we have now is not used well, the variable limits appear to create the issues. The M42 section has so many  varied limits that it hinders the flow.

I hate the idea of driverless cars, if you cannot drive, use a bus or train. Transport companies love the idea of having HGV's being driven with no problems with hours, no drivers making errors and running 24 hours a day. And when all this technology replaces the need for humans what then for society?

We seem to be doing things because a bit like the emperors new clothes, everyone in the club thinks it is a great idea, those on the outside can see it is just big business creating something to sell where there is no real need.

 

[corsechris]

Not so much a tech fix as a fundamental problem - stop the contractors from taking the p***. It seems to be common knowledge for everyone except the bill payers that overnight works are nothing of the sort - just an excuse for the bulk of the shift to get some kip on double time.

If you want to throw some tech at it, tag the lazy b******ds and see how much productivity improves. Then again, they'd probably just spend all night just driving up and down and still do no work.

I second the vote to allow passing both sides on motorways. If our American cousins can cope, I'm sure we could.

[Thrustyjust]

Make a hard should for a smart motorway. Sounds daft , doesnt it. Like drivers know that their cars will obviously break down opposite a safe area . Having heard from a work colleague, who's son in law had an epileptic fit while in the front passenger seat of a car and the panic that happened on the M3 and having to stop in a live lane . I for one wouldnt want to be there. Luckily they all were OK , but the Rozzers and ambulance had probably a bigger task of danger than if a hard shoulder was available. You never know what can happen at times. It may also seem a step backwards , but smart motorways are more dangerous that those with hard shoulders. See any accident on the A34.

[Stuart]

When average speed cameras are there to protect the workforce, take the speed limits off when the workforce aren't there.  Ridiculous having to do long distances at 50mph at 4am when there's not a soul anywhere nearby

[Olliebeak]

There appears to be the view that technology cures all, I think priority should be given to improving the condition of existing roads, a lot of A roads are now unfit to drive on , get the Chinese to do major roadworks and improve existing roads, they seem to do a good job in so called third world countries, same applies to rail inc HS2. Just lets face it there are too many vehicles on the road in this country. HGV,s over 7.5 ton only on the road at night between 10.00 and 6.00.

[Lyonspride]

More alternate routes, stop closing roads and turning them into footpaths, forcing all traffic down one single route regardless of their destination..... Why? Because as soon as theirs an accident or road works, the whole damn lot grinds to a halt in a 10 mile radius.

 

More signs at road merge points, telling people to use both lanes and merge in turn. More driver education on the difference between using the road correctly and "queue jumping".

 

Motorway middle lane drivers and DC lane hogs, how about using lane specific ANPR and road side radar to fully 3d map traffic and hand out fines to those who fail move over when they could have done (3 strikes rule).

 

In all honesty, we need less BS and more common sense.

[Steve (sdh2903)]

16 hours ago, jeff oakley said:

I understand technology has its place but to my mind and I do 40k a year there is now simply too much being spent on smart motorways and driverless cars when our road network is in such dire condition.

This.

Bring it up to standard then add technology as the roads in general are b*******ed.

A genuine question  now for someone in the highways industry. Why do roadworks take so long? 50 years ago whole stretches of roads were constructed in much quicker time and much more robust (more stone content my old man tells me?).

Nowadays we have more technology, bigger more powerful machinery, decades more experience and the roads we resurface take an age and the quality is crap. How come? A stretch of A road on my commute was resurfaced 2 years ago and now it's completely worn out, I'd say to even worse standard than before, all the grids are sinking, edges falling away and potholes you could lose kids in. Do councils not get any warranty from the contractors they employ? Or is it simply a case of you pay cheap you get cheap?

[Terry Everall]

I think that total closures (often for many hours) needs reviewing as it causes chaos to peoples lives. Know fatalities etc are horrendous but surely they could be managed to a shorter timeframe and get traffic moving quicker. 

Also if we had small turnoff roads for use in emergencies ( say every 2 miles ) that got you off the motorway and back onto adjacent roads that would ease congestion and save massive queues

[Lyonspride]

1 hour ago, sdh2903 said:

This.

Bring it up to standard then add technology as the roads in general are b*******ed.

A genuine question  now for someone in the highways industry. Why do roadworks take so long? 50 years ago whole stretches of roads were constructed in much quicker time and much more robust (more stone content my old man tells me?).

Nowadays we have more technology, bigger more powerful machinery, decades more experience and the roads we resurface take an age and the quality is crap. How come? A stretch of A road on my commute was resurfaced 2 years ago and now it's completely worn out, I'd say to even worse standard than before, all the grids are sinking, edges falling away and potholes you could lose kids in. Do councils not get any warranty from the contractors they employ? Or is it simply a case of you pay cheap you get cheap?

 

They seem to manage OK in Wales for some reason though........

One reason though is contract corruption, contractors paying fat backhanders to win contracts, then charging the tax payer well over the odds for road work by dragging it out for days/weeks longer than it should really take, with perhaps local councilors taking a slice of the profit for allowing the work to drag on. I too remember the days when such work was done in very little time and lasted a very long time.
The other reason is job creation for office admin staff, more unneeded paperwork, more managers, less skilled workers, procedures written by deskjockeys, too much BS.

 

[Olliebeak]

I worked for  the local authority for many years and it was commonplace for contractors to put in a low tender bid to win the contract and them make up their shortfall on claims against the contract, e.g poor weather, difficult ground conditions etc etc.

I cannot understand why in the 21st century we have motorists stuck on motorways for up to eight hours, re the latest M74 fiasco. Motorways and major trunk roads were the responsibility of the Highways Agency not the local authority. You could link the Highways Agency with the Environment Agency and put all the non producers together. 

      

[Thrustyjust]

Being that we back onto the A34 , aka the death road, it seems obvious on there not being a safe road to travel. Oh, hang on, its closed again tonight because of another accident ! In theory, 2 straight lines of tarmac heading south or north and being able to negotiate shouldnt be awkward, but sadly for many people it is. The recent Newbury Bypass was built and has the worlds shortest slip roads to be able to join a 70 mph carriageway. If you 'attempt' to join in our 1ltr Skoda, you would be at 45mph before the chevrons. Even in our Volvo we would just scrape 60 mph. Whoever designed those need there brain cell extracted. 

From inner cities, who has travelled to a town/ city and has no idea on how bus lanes appear and disappear, how traffic is supposed to move though and signs and roundabouts being of poor design ? Luckily we have the Robin Hood roundabout in Newbury and believe me, its a free for all, as its so badly set out and no signage for directions , only worn out white arrows under the cars that have stopped. Thats really handy. 

Road works take so long, so the workers can have tea tasting sessions , nothing more. Seeing lanes shut down and I believe it was 5 years for the smart motorway on the M3 in Hampshire to be constructed. All 12 miles or so if . Its pathetic really. Sadly there are too many people who get involved to allow work to progress, from what I can see. And the people who do the work is about 3 or 4 of them , which is why 5 years is what you expect for a small section of motorway. See how quickly they built the M1 , almost a mile a week. That was 50 years ago and man power was just that.