rare long drive tomorrow, need to be at KT19 area for 11AM coming from Doncaster. Thinking A1 all way to M25 and across anti clockwise to J9?
Traffic hotspots and roadworks on the route advice welcome. I know that is the worst time to travel and arrive.
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Either: turn right off A1 on to A421 at the Black Cat roundabout, then join M1 and continue to M25
or: turn left off A1 just after the Hatfield Tunnel, right at the roundabout on to North Orbital, straight on at next roundabout, then get into left or middle lane at the next roundabout (at London Colney), follow signs towards Hemel Hempstead until next roundabout, take second exit left here (Park Street roundabout), continue more or less straight ahead until you reach the M25.
This latter bit may sound not worth bothering with, but it slices off a big corner and will save time and distance.
You will need to hit the M25 by 9:30 at the latest and the worst of the traffic will be over, except that anti-clockwise around the M40 interchange might be slow.
You'd better check, but, based on fairly recent journeys, there should be no roadworks on the M1 from the A421 to the M25 - not sure about the A1 north of the Black Cat, but I'd still be inclined to use the A1 as far as there, or further down to Hatfield.
Last edited by: FocalPoint on Mon 9 Jun 14 at 21:08
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You want to be on the road by 0600. Don't head down the M18/M1 as there are 20 miles of roadworks on the M1 to the south of Sheffield.
The A1 is mostly 2-lane dual carriageway, except for a 12-mile stretch south of Peterborough which is wider. This means you will frequently get stuck behind two lorries "elephant racing" at 56mph for a mile or so. It doesn't matter, it doesn't delay you, so don't get stressed about it.
Further south, the A1 has a few roundabouts between Buckden and Baldock, with queues to be expected at each one in the rush hour (0730-0900). There is a new SPECS-enforced 60mph limit south of the Buckden roundabout. There are also currently widening works on the A1 at Biggleswade South, with narrow lanes and 40mph limits. This area can often get sticky in the rush hour.
An alternative to the slow Sandy/Biggleswade and Stevenage sections of A1 would be to turn right onto the A421 at the Black Cat roundabout after the above-mentioned 60mph limit; the A421 takes you directly to the M1 at j13. There will be hard-shoulder running on the M1 from j13 onwards at that time in the morning. Use your loaf, keep left unless overtaking and you can make good progress down to the M25 from there.
The M25 should flow reasonably well - most bottlenecks have been ironed out now. If you do grind to a halt in traffic, it will rarely be for long.
One last thing - keep Radio 2 on! It has regular traffic bulletins from 0650 every 20-30 minutes.
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>> You want to be on the road by 0600. Don't head down the M18/M1 as
>> there are 20 miles of roadworks on the M1 to the south of Sheffield.
>>
Ha don't I know it. I've just started new job just off J30 on the M1 and this is my normal route this morning a wide load didn't help taking up two lanes for most of it! Thanks FP and Dave for the suggestions, will probably do the A421 as suggested.
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>> One last thing - keep Radio 2 on! It has regular traffic bulletins from 0650
>> every 20-30 minutes.
Doesn't BBC Radio 2 cover everything and everywhere from John O'Groats to Lands End? Or is it regionalised?
I find that BBC Radio London is better. Or LBC 97.3.
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If you happen to hit very serious delays on the M25 West of Heathrow keep a note of ways out.
J14 - A3113 A3044 A308 A309 A3
J13 - A30 towards London A308 A309 A3
J12 - M3 to Sunbury A308 A309 A3
J10 - A3 and A340 - a fast route
I check
www.trafficengland.com/index.aspx?ct=true
and switch on Roadside Message sigs
and Motorway traffic flow
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Spot on Henry, have you tried the Beta map?
ntis.trafficengland.com/map
It updates instantly and gives an accurate picture of speed of queuing traffic but I have to go back to the old one for cameras and road side messages!
Pat
Last edited by: Pat on Tue 10 Jun 14 at 04:38
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Thanks Pat.
The Beta map looks very useful.
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FWIW, the TomTom live traffic website is free to use, and in my driving experience the TomTom traffic is usually spookily accurate.
It covers all roads, not just M and A roads (and all countries where TomTom operate, so you can see some real proper jams in Belgium every two minutes).
www.tomtom.com/livetraffic/
Last edited by: Crankcase on Tue 10 Jun 14 at 09:53
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Agree, Crankcase. Tom Tom traffic very useful and mostly accurate.
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Cheers for all for the St Albans shortcut tip to the M25, made good time in the end. Handy bunch you lot!
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Just as well you didn't try the A421 Black Cat - M1 J13 this morning. It appears it was stationary around 08:30!
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lol I was in a ten minute queue there at 8am
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Glad you made it OK nbd. Just goes to show it's always worth having a few escape routes planned. I have to schedule runs like that every day!
I'm off work for a few days now, next route to plan is on Thursday: Leicester - Bedford by 0745 - Royston - Channel Tunnel by 1250 - Le Mans :) Easy.
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This trip is similar to a route I had to do to Bradford.... Aim to get there for 9am and it was impossible. Leave early and get there for 8am... Probably earlier.
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>> This trip is similar to a route I had to do to Bradford.... Aim to
>> get there for 9am and it was impossible. Leave early and get there for 8am...
>> Probably earlier.
>>
I allowed what seemed like a bonkers 2.5hrs to get from Chester to Bradford yesterday - left at 8 for a 10.30 meeting. Got there with just 5 mins to spare.
My car (Mercedes) re-routes if it sees traffic holdups and it was just going bonkers - impossible to follow all the changes so you end up ignoring them. I've also found that if you follow the suggested diversion, everyone else is doing the same.
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"I'm off work for a few days now, next route to plan is on Thursday: Leicester - Bedford by 0745 - Royston - Channel Tunnel by 1250 - Le Mans :) Easy. "
Dave_C220CDI,
Be aware, if you are planning to drive through Rouen followed by A28 to Le Mans - the bridge in Rouen (Pont Matilde) is closed and under reconstruction. When I go I ignore the longer and more expensive Autoroute diversion and carry on through the centre of Rouen. Take a right, take a right, cross the Seine, take a left and you are on the way , via the cows roundabout to the A13 and then A28.
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate on Wed 11 Jun 14 at 15:39
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That's my route to the coast this summer, Dulwich. Would you mind elaborating, particularly about where one takes a right, and which bridge one uses to cross the river?
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Al,
Give me a moment or two - I'll consult maps when I can and get back to you.
In the meantime:
www.pontmathilde.com/
It's supposed to reopen in August, but they've already set back the date twice so I wouldn't rely on it.
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate on Wed 11 Jun 14 at 16:02
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Thanks, DE. You're a star. We got stuck in the worst traffic jam of my life on the way back last year following a diversion to the north of Rouen. I would rather avoid a similar experience.
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HA! So it was a lorry driver who caused an accident which destroyed this vital bridge! Well I never. He's gone to prison for 8 months. 2 years to fix it. Imagine the fuss if it happened here.
;-)
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Be careful it doesn't come back and bite you on the bum Alanovic:)
www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/dangerous-driving-arrest-after-m6-7240120
It would seem the authorities are now beginning to look into these single lorry accidents and take some action to apportion blame and level up the playing field a bit!
Pat
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>> Be careful it doesn't come back and bite you on the bum Alanovic:)
>>
>> www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/dangerous-driving-arrest-after-m6-7240120
>>
>> It would seem the authorities are now beginning to look into these single lorry accidents
>> and take some action to apportion blame and level up the playing field a bit!
>>
>> Pat
Came past that one v shortly after it happened - en route Liverpool on a Uni end of year mission. Thank goodness the driver got out, it was well ablaze from end to end when I saw and looked as though Police Fire etc had only just arrived and were assessing how to deal.
Difficult to see how only one vehicle was involved so interesting to learn another has been identified as cause/contributor.
Road was still closed on way back Diverted via A50 which was OK s/b but very congested going north.
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Alan,
I've driven from the channel ports to SW France maybe 60 return journeys and have done maybe 6 or 7 returns avoiding the dodgy bridge.
I would avoid the Autoroute diversion especially going north in peak times as delays can be horrendous.
Here goes:
A28 into Rouen
Through tunnel
Watch 90kph speed camera at entrance
Exit tunnel, follow Le Mans
After 2 or 3 miles road is blocked & all traffic is filtered right.
Maintain RH lane. At T junction (traffic signals) turn right.
Proceed along Seine embankment NW direction in RH lane.
Pass 3 bridges. After passing under fourth bridge turn right, signed Autoroute, this is a narrow lane and in clover-leaf style takes you over the point you turned right and then over the river.
Keep as left a possible and at end of bridge turn left onto Seine embankment (SW direction).
After 750m you will see the dodgy bridge on your left.
Keep straight past massive railway goods yard on your right.
After maybe 3 or 4 miles go straight over the “Cows” roundabout.
After maybe 3 miles go straight over another roundabout.
Keep right and signs say A13 Caen. Go up slip road and join A13 and later turn off on A28 Le Mans.
The reverse is pretty much the same but you can cross the Seine on an earlier bridge.
Hope it all helps.
Last edited by: Dulwich Estate on Wed 11 Jun 14 at 19:25
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Brillo DE, thanks a million. A virtual bottle of (lightly chilled) Sancerre is yours. A real one if we ever meet.
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It's good to be able to help.
Perhaps I should have added that for the return trip as you approach Rouen on A13 from the West just follow the permanent blue Calais signs and again ignore the temporary yellow diversion signs. If you keep following Calais you will soon enough end up on the Seine embankment going NW with the river on your right. You can cross right at the first bridge.
On the way South you can't cross a couple of bridges as they seem to be one way bridges hence the turn off at bridge number 4.
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Thanks again. Invaluable.
Last year we got stuck for 2 and a half hours doing a 10k stretch of peage north of Rouen. The queue started literally after joining the motorway, and finished at the toll gate. It was the worst value for money peage section I've ever driven..............quite galling to have to pay for it. Although we were treated to an apocalyptic thunderstorm and downpour which I'm glad I didn't have to drive through.
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Rounded Rouen on Sunday routing Dreux>Chartres etc.
Followed suggested divert via A151 leading to Pont Flaubert. After bridge there's a complete absence of signage for N154 direction BUT if you follow A13 (Le Mans/Paris) from roundabouts after bridge then eventually Louviers etc DO appear.
Took us two attempts (eventually we followed directions back towards La Manche and retraced our steps) and Mrs B gets a gold star for not losing it while towing caravan far too close to comfort to city centre.
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Surrey for 11AM - FocalPoint
