Well, the news was full of it - today was supposed to be one of busiest days of the year on our roads. So, setting off from E Midlands today for Farnborough I allowed an extra hour and set off at 5.30 am. No probs on M1, A43, M40, A 404, A 399(?) etc and arrived 1 hour too early to deliver car. Next job was Leyton to New Milton, Hants - A12 (and A406, A13?) to M25 sailed along, thinking QE2 bridge would be queued - nope, first time ever over QEII with no queue whatsoever, chucked 2 quid in (bloomin' outrageous!!) and off we went. Sailed round M25, onto M3, bit busy but no delays to New Milton. Back up M3 to A 34 thinking round Oxford would be busy - nope - clear (first time ever?) and no holdups to M40, A 43, (not even sign of queue at A43/A5 junction Towcester), M1 and home. Not even usual Friday evening crush - had to wait 30 mins for Mrs W to pick me up from drop-off. Usually on Friday am at least 60 mins late home because of traffic delays.
Where were you all today? - I got home in plenty of time of time to hit the red stuff early!!
P
|
|
A2/M2 London bound this morning was quieter than usual and I was amazed that the Dartford Tunnel was flowing freely this afternoon, which is the first time it has been this week !
|
Been the same for a few years now, lots of people finish work a day or two before the last day and then spread the travelling, i haven't had a serious pre Christmas hold up for years.
Today was the same, hardly dropped off the limiter up the M1 at lunchtime, normal Friday would have several accidents and miles of jams.
|
|
After a week in the Travelodge in Fleet, returning home to Spamcan Towers this afternoon the M3/M27/A31 were much quieter than a normal Friday. Lots and lots a water everywhere still in the Forest.
|
Clenched buttocks at 1815 as I headed for the M4 at Heathrow, wondering what I was in for. Needn't have worried: all three westbound lanes moving at about the same speed, as usual, so no good being in a hurry but it was a decent speed and I was home in good time.
But not before I'd heard the best Radio 4 signoff ever.
Yesterday we reported that certain scholars of the Mayan calendar were predicting that the world would end at about eleven o'clock this morning. It didn't. BBC News.
Harriet Cass, you are a legend. We'll miss you.
|
"After a week in the Travelodge in Fleet,"
Even a 4 hour jam on the M25 would be a pleasure after that!!! ;-)
Happy Christmas!!
P
|
>> "After a week in the Travelodge in Fleet,"
>> Even a 4 hour jam on the M25 would be a pleasure after that!!! ;-)
>> Happy Christmas!!
>> P
>>
Yeah, I'll probably turn into Alan Partridge with my own 'big plate' :-) The cost of the room is the same as a day's fuel cost from home, so I can put up with a somewhat shabby decor and bringing my own soap! 5 minute drive to work rather than the normal 1.5 hours from Spamcan Towers. Merry Xmas ;-)
|
"Yeah, I'll probably turn into Alan Partridge with my own 'big plate' :-) The cost of the room is the same as a day's fuel cost from home, so I can put up with a somewhat shabby decor and bringing my own soap! 5 minute drive to work rather than the normal 1.5 hours from Spamcan Towers. Merry Xmas ;-) "
Know what you mean S. Sometimes a Travelodge is a haven of peace and a good night's sleep compared to driving our motorways.
Glad to be home for Christmas though!!
P
|
Should have been out and around on Tuesday, M25 closed in two places, tryin to get to Stamford I had to hoof it across country in a kinda NNE direction from Beconsfield.
Trains were well up the pole today tho, two lines out of Paddington closed due to fire in line side signaling equipment.
|
>> M25 closed in two places, tryin to get to Stamford I had to hoof it across country in a kinda NNE direction from Beconsfield.
>> Trains were well up the pole today tho, two lines out of Paddington closed due to fire in line side signaling equipment.
The apocalypse is evidently trying to get something going, but you'd think it would have more sense than to start by keeping everything normal in the South East of England.
I feel cheated. What is this, a girls' apocalypse or what? Tchah!
|
Been over in France for a night. Short break plus delicacies and wine/beer for Xmas.
Out yesterday morning at 06:00 and only made chunnel check in with minutes to spare. Queue Luton way on M1 for no apparent reason and long crawl over QE2 & hammering rain for most of way.
Tonight we got an earlier shuttle than booked (and could have boarded one earlier still if we'd clicked what the signs meant). Off at 17:30 and home in Northants at 21:15 - short stop at Thurrock notwithstanding.
|
As an infrequent user of the QE2 - am I alone that it's totally stupid that this country tolerates
such a bottle neck just to collect tolls. What makes it even dafter is the fact that bikes go through for nothing and still have to queue to get across ??
|
|
Removing the tolls (and tollbooths) from the Forth bridge did wonders for the traffic flow, pity the politicians won't commit to the new bridge being toll free.
|
|
The tolls on the Qe2 bridge were kept to deliberately create a bottleneck and limit the amount of traffic on the road.
|
"totally stupid that this country tolerates such a bottle neck just to collect tolls"
Yes, especially for a couple of other reasons :-
1. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe that the bridge was paid for in 2002 and a further year of (£1?) tolls would have paid for its upkeep/maintenance for the rest of its life. Should have been a free crossing for last 9 years (like several other even bigger bridges in France for example)
2. The tolls went up from £1 to £1.50 a couple of years ago - a 50% increase and no-one seemed to protest - our Froggy friends would have blockaded it with fishing boats/burning sheep/a few hundred artics had it been over the water.
3. It recently increased to £2 - another 33% increase and still no-one seems to complain.
4. One of the reasons for retaining the toll booths has been said to be to "regulate traffic flow". Well, how about instead of "regulating traffic flow" by charging us so much for an already paid for bridge, and creating miles of queues either side of the crossing virtually 24/7 how about:-
a) removing the toll booths
b) Using the millions of quids raised to build another bridge/tunnel to ease the congestion?
Oh, and while I'm on the sort of subject. I drove on M62 yesterday - there are cones and a 50 and 40 speed limit for about 20 miles (OK, I exaggerate a bit) from near Bradford to M62/M1 interchange, been the same for months. But did I see one workman or even a working piece of machinery? No. Went round M25 southern bit today near M23 junction - several miles of cones etc and 50 limit. Any sign of a workman or any machines? No. Been the same for months. What's going on?? If anything.
|
"removing the toll booths"
Your wishes are likely to be granted in 2014 when the toll booths will be removed to provide a faster traffic flow.
The bad news is you are still going to have to pay somehow.
The Highway Agency state that they" will allow the remote collection of payment through a variety of methods including telephone, text message, online, and at retail outlets – giving motorists greater flexibility in how and when they pay the charge."
Widely seen as a trial for more widespread road pricing.
www.highways.gov.uk/news/press-releases/consultations-launched-for-dartford-free-flow/
|
"telephone, text message, online, and at retail outlets – giving motorists greater flexibility in how and when they pay the charge."
Oh yeah, well Technotit Phil might find chucking a couple of squids into a machine much more "flexible". Will thousands of motorists sitting by booths (?) frantically dialling/texting/trying to get online on their phones "give greater flexibility"? Let alone the odd 40 tonner trying to find a "retail outlet" to pay at. How about just sticking a credit card in a machine like in French toll booths? And how about the thousands of foreign trucks/ cars that use the crossing every day heading for Chunnel/ferries? Are they going to be using "telephone, text message, online, and at retail outlets"?
They've only just allowed CCs at Severn Bridge and that's using a machine and putting pin number in etc - and I had a colleague who, about a year or so ago, before CCs allowed was rather surprised by the £16. 75 charge for crossing with small truck & trailer - thought it would be about a fiver. He was sent away to get cash from nearest cash machine (prob Bristol!!). He now uses M50/A449 even if it means a 50 mile detour!
Both these crossings are pretty essential but, as usual, Britain sees them as cash cows by which to milk the motorist (can you have a cash cow that milks a motorist??)
|
If you take a look at the link you will see that the proposal is similar to the charging method for the congestion charge. Drivers will be encouraged to pay the charge in advance.
If they pay after crossing they will be charged a supplement and if they don't pay they will get a hefty fine.
Should speed things up a bit.
|
The Guardian argues that all is not rosy with the M6 toll, and suggests that won't make the ideas floating about at the moment a shoe in, at the least.
I'd be worried about the refinancing of a billion in a few months, which appears to have come about because of a dividend payment a wiole back. Hmm...
tinyurl.com/cnfp8gw
|
M6 toll and any other the private sector can be nudged into building might well become more attractive and better used when overall road pricing comes to pass, CO2 based VED has seen the tax take drop considerably as people bought low emission vehicles.
At the moment unless there are serious hold ups on the normal routes or a persons time/expense account make it a no brainer, its just too expensive at a fiver a go for cars, people on PAYE would have to earn around £7 to be able to afford that fiver, which could well be nearly 2 hours work for someone on current normal wages for a 2 way journey.
They'll just have to cut the toll rate to tempt more users till such time as their govt mates can shift the goal posts about.
If they hadn't been so devious with road signage and the often misleading matrix pre warnings over the years, i might have had a fleeting moment of sympathy, as it is i hope the losses really really hurt..:-))))
|
>> as it is i hope the losses really really hurt..:-))))
Road pricing will be an absolute disaster because it will be implemented through more PFI, though it will have a new name, PFI being rightly discredited.
I'd be amazed if every £1 of tax saved in using private sector funding doesn't add at least that much in subsidies in future years, and a multiple of that in tolls paid by users.
And of necessity we must be held to ransom or we will not choose toll roads. The M6 toll has never made money, and losses are almost certainly now out of control - after losses averaging under £30m in the first 5 years, they were over £200m in 2011 and unlikely to be less in 2012. Macquarie has virtually written off the value. Presumably it is on the hook for another 40 years of losses, assuming it doesn't just bail out and leave the taxpayer with the costs anyway, or negotiate subsidies to plug its losses.
If we can't raise taxes for reasons of competitiveness, there need to be serious cuts in current public expenditure so we can afford to fund infrastructure instead of bleeding away twice the wealth in future years through PFI money that will go substantially to foreign investors like Macquarie - who won't be caught again, and will either exact a much higher price for something like the proposed A14 toll or require significant guarantees underwritten by the taxpayer.
www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/may/14/m6-toll-road-cuts-value
Last edited by: Manatee on Sat 22 Dec 12 at 13:17
|
Same here Phil, we feared the worst with a multidrop around Kent yeasterday, but Ian finished in Whitstable at 2pm and sailed home without a problem.
Dartford crossing was a dream...hope it's the same today as we go to Kent again visiting!
Pat
|
One of busiest days of year on roads? - Skip
