I always get beeped at this jcn - is it me or every other driver on the road who is wrong?

Username03725

Jenni it's the same going out of Hemel and onto the A41 north towards Berko & Aylesbury - it's a 2 lane road under the bridge but no road markings. I used to tire of muppets who dawdled all the way up from the lights to the A41 (40 zone) doing speeds in the high 20s up the hill in the r/h lane, so took advantage of their inability to make reasonable progress and understand multi-lane roads by using lane 1 up to the A41 junction, and under the bridge and on to the main road. There are two lanes all the way to the on-slip and no bottleneck or lane thinning under the bridge beyond the A41 southbound on-slip; there was always a lot of traffic and it was never any issue to use the clear lane to get on to the A41.

Jenni_D

But that's the point ... the road markings DO NOT indicate two lanes - only a single lane, as evidenced by the "chevrons" at each side of the road. (Follow the streetview around from the starting point the OP posted). I suspect that this may originally have been two lanes around the roundabout but has been changed since.

BOWFER

Looking at the photo and following it round, I'd be pretty hacked off if someone came down the left and then turned right too.
If there were clear lane markings saying you could do so, end of problem.
But the lack of markings, to me, says that the entire lane is 'mine' to use and I wouldn't be looking for anyone to be coming down my left.

Username03725

BOWFER said:

Looking at the photo and following it round, I'd be pretty hacked off if someone came down the left and then turned right too.
If there were clear lane markings saying you could do so, end of problem.
But the lack of markings, to me, says that the entire lane is 'mine' to use and I wouldn't be looking for anyone to be coming down my left.

So what do you imagine the left lane on the slip is for? Just for all the people who leave the A41 then change their mind and want to get back on it?

Bolded bit - that's the problem. There are 2 lanes going into that bit of road and plenty of space, but because we have to pander to those who require the whole width of the road because there's apparently nothing to say it's not 2 lanes wide, it becomes a bottleneck. Rather than share available road space to make it all flow a lot easier and faster, it's 'mine', which in reality means you want all the space for your benefit, not to share it or accommodate other traffic. 

BOWFER

Username03725 said:

BOWFER said:

Looking at the photo and following it round, I'd be pretty hacked off if someone came down the left and then turned right too.
If there were clear lane markings saying you could do so, end of problem.
But the lack of markings, to me, says that the entire lane is 'mine' to use and I wouldn't be looking for anyone to be coming down my left.

So what do you imagine the left lane on the slip is for? Just for all the people who leave the A41 then change their mind and want to get back on it?

Bolded bit - that's the problem. There are 2 lanes going into that bit of road and plenty of space, but because we have to pander to those who require the whole width of the road because there's apparently nothing to say it's not 2 lanes wide, it becomes a bottleneck. Rather than share available road space to make it all flow a lot easier and faster, it's 'mine', which in reality means you want all the space for your benefit, not to share it or accommodate other traffic. 

It's not a case of "requiring" the whole width.
It's a complete lack of road markings making it appear that you have the whole space to use if you want it and I would not expect anyone to be to my left.
I understand your frustration about 'lanes to nowhere' and 'available space', I just don't agree with you that it's reasonable to just go ahead and use it without any road markings clearly saying you can.

facade

And when a driver who believes that they are fully entitled to drive down the centre of the wide single lane, avoiding running over the chevrons or through the debris that has gathered at the edges, meets a driver who believes that they are fully entitled to squeeze 2 cars into a space now allocated to one, both of whom are adamant that they are "correct" and have "rights".................

NBLondon

Username03725 said:

There are 2 lanes going into that bit of road and plenty of space, but because we have to pander to those who require the whole width of the road because there's apparently nothing to say it's not 2 lanes wide, it becomes a bottleneck. Rather than share available road space to make it all flow a lot easier and faster, it's 'mine', which in reality means you want all the space for your benefit, not to share it or accommodate other traffic. 

What about HGVs?  A larger vehicle coming off the A41 to head into Hemel  might need the extra width.

Coming the other way it makes more sense to have two lanes at the first roundabout encountered - one to turn "left" to the A41 and one to continue and turn "right".

The markings could be adjusted to make the intention explicit though.

EssexExile

It looks like they've put in two lanes for queueing so the traffic doesn't back up the slip road and onto the A41 at busy times. I'd use the left hand lane if the right was busy, what else could it be for? As others have said, better road markings would help.

Supersonos

EssexExile said:

It looks like they've put in two lanes for queueing so the traffic doesn't back up the slip road and onto the A41 at busy times. I'd use the left hand lane if the right was busy, what else could it be for? As others have said, better road markings would help.

Which is exactly what I do.

Yesterday the queue in the right lane went all the way back up the slip road almost to the main carriageway.  The left lane was completely empty.

I think too many people drive like they're on auto-pilot rather than reading the road/traffic/conditions and driving accordingly.

Like people who sit in queues rather than use the bus lane when allowed.  Or people who sit in the middle lane on the motorway. 

Grumpy_chap

Out of interest, how long (in time) is the queue if you follow in line?