Roadworks endless roadworks

facade

I remember in The Olden Days I used to work the other side of Birmingham (This was when there used to be things called "factories" that actually made stuff, rather than logistics and warehousing for stuff from China)

I could either drive 33 miles along the M6/M42 which took 40 minutes from my house to work, or 25 miles straight through the centre of Birmingham (along something called "the A34" that used to go right through the centre) which took about 45 minutes but used a little less fuel.

Nowadays my commute is under the M6 that I used to fly along at 80, and I can see stationary traffic at 7:15, which was the same time I used to be driving.

Seems like there are lots more cars on the roads, but where do they go? There are hardly any factories left....

maninthestreet

The M3 roardworks between junctions 2 and 4a are scheduled to be completed in June of next year.
Just wait for five years worth of roadworks to convert the M4 to a smart motorway, from junctions 3 to 12 (32 miles!).

bigadaj

Well if as a country you don't spend any money on roads and in fact most infrastructure for decades then unsurprisingly it takes longer and costs more to repair the infrastructure that has by now lasted longer than its original design life.

Paradigm

bigadaj wrote: »

Well if as a country you don't spend any money on roads and in fact most infrastructure for decades then unsurprisingly it takes longer and costs more to repair the infrastructure that has by now lasted longer than its original design life.

We're not talking about infrastructure or repairs, it's this "managed motorway" thing.
Anyone who's used the M6 near Birmingham will know that there have been roadworks from j10-j8 since God was a lad, what are they doing? Nothing has improved & the overhead gantry speed limit signs (backed up by speed cameras) seem to have a life of their own, displaying different limits at almost every gantry!


I use the M6 a lot for work & I don't see anything to justify all the work, the inconvenience or the money spent.

bigadaj

Paradigm wrote: »

We're not talking about infrastructure or repairs, it's this "managed motorway" thing.
Anyone who's used the M6 near Birmingham will know that there have been roadworks from j10-j8 since God was a lad, what are they doing? Nothing has improved & the overhead gantry speed limit signs (backed up by speed cameras) seem to have a life of their own, displaying different limits at almost every gantry!


I use the M6 a lot for work & I don't see anything to justify all the work, the inconvenience or the money spent.

We are exactly talking about infrastructure and repairs.

Managed motorways are a sticking plaster that allow at least a theoretical increase in capacity at relatively low cost.

Look at teh continual increase in population and vehicles in the road, pretty much no major motorways constructed for well over thirty years, the majority of the motorway network being well over 50 years old.

The railways are the same, well actually worse, that's a network that is now generally over 150 years old.

Let's use public spending to do something useful and productive with value, rather than an ever increasing benefits bill that just leads to dependency and demands for ever more.