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Surrey is one giant speed bump with low bits every now and then.
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Annoying things your council has done?
I was really browned off when they sent me a council tax bill
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Have they billed you for their bus yet?
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Oh yes.
Not had the bill for the air amulance or the three fire engines yet tho.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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This is kind of motoring related....
Rochdale council introduced a recycling bin scheme. Unannounced, they dropped off a shiny new plastic box (I suspect made from virgin plastic) and said put your recycling stuff in here, but not paper or plastic (other than PET - which obviously everyone can indentify amongst other types of plastic) but we do want cans but not glass.
Then we'll send round a chuffing big truck (you see, motoring) separate to the binmen's chuffing big truck because there's absolutely no wasted resources there whatsoever, none at all, and because we only want about 40% of the recyclable products in your waste stream, you'll still have to drop off the other stuff (by car - this is just dripping with motoring references now) to the supermarket recycling point or the tip.
The scheme lasted about 6 months to be replaced by.....nothing.
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"Not had the bill for the air amulance or the three fire engines yet tho." Cripes did you get a flight !?
Anyway not my council but one in North Wales (where I am now) - Gwynedd. They have named all the rivers that pass under road bridges. Not a bad thing in itself but on rectangular reflective white signs - I wouldn't mind but I pay Council Tax up here as well and they really skimp on essential road repairs...
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I noticed a similar thing the other week down in essex PU - can't remember the road name but the fairly new dual carriage way from outside Southend up to Chelmsford had signs by every bridge over something and for every bridge over the road including footbridges.
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West London. Went from N Kensington to Purley and back today, Sunday. 50 minutes or so each way in the mid seventies. Two hours each way today. All delays caused by unnecessarily obstructive roadwork cages and temporary traffic lights.
The whole attitude of local authorities has changed. And in this burg we have an uber-authority dead set on turning our capital into a third world city.
Just goddam tell me about it,
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Bradford where my mother lives IS a third world city.
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Bradford where my mother lives IS a third world city.
I live in Bradford, and I'm quite happy for outsiders to delude themselves into thinking that. It helps to keep property prices at affordable levels :)
Meanwhile those in London are welcome to bask in the joy of their filthy streets, overcrowded housing, congested roads, and the absence of any decent countrside for a hundred miles. Mind you, London does have much better public transport than Bradford :)
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Now Wheels.
I know you pride yourself on accuracy so I have to correct you.
I live 32 miles from Charing cross. I live within 5 miles of a SSI (Chobham common) and within 7 miles of a National Park (the Surrey Hills which includes such world famous sites as Box Hill), where grapes are grown on the hillsides as they were in the days of the Romans.
100 Miles Huh?
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Now Wheels. I know you pride yourself on accuracy so I have to correct you. I live 32 miles from Charing cross. I live within 5 miles of a SSI (Chobham common) and within 7 miles of a National Park (the Surrey Hills which includes such world famous sites as Box Hill), where grapes are grown on the hillsides as they were in the days of the Romans. 100 Miles Huh? ------------------------------ TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
And orchids on Box Hill, don't forget!
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The thing is though TVM that in/around London 10 miles can take an hour. Out here in the sticks 10 miles is 10-15 minutes. Can't get my Londoner MiL to understand that. An hour will see me in the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales, Peak District, or one of four major cities. An hour will see her in Central London or somewhere just beyond the M25. Nice.
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Agree with Baskerville.I used to live in Chobham.Nice part of the world but traffic in surrey is a joke.I now reside in rural north oxfordshire,their are farmers fields here larger than the whole of chobham common. and i can travel 31 miles in the same amount of time it used to take me to commute 7 miles.I would never return for that reason.
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Now Wheels. I know you pride yourself on accuracy so I have to correct you.
You're welcome to try :)
I live 32 miles from Charing cross. I live within 5 miles of a SSI (Chobham common) and within 7 miles of a National Park (the Surrey Hills which includes such world famous sites as Box Hill), where grapes are grown on the hillsides as they were in the days of the Romans.
I used to live in the sarf, and I've seen the Surrey "countryside" ... and I'm afraid it's not my idea of countryside. Mostly like a cross between a garden and Hampstead Heath -- all manicured and neat and tamed, with nowhere for anyone to get lost and freeze to death. Every time I been down that part of the world, it seems to be impossible to get more than half a mile from a plastic traffic bollard.
100 Miles Huh?
Notts or Derbyshire is where it starts to get real. Below that it's all either too tame or too flat or both.
But I won't try too hard to dissuade you. The more of you who are satisfied with the sarf, the more room there is those of up here to enjoy our vast open spaces :)
Name-change time: NoWheels + Almera = NowWheels
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I live quite near Bradford and it's not a third world city. More like a third world village flooded with traffic lights.
It's an awful place, don't care how cheap the property is. The streets are filthy, housing is overcrowded and the roads congested.
If it wasn't for the odd good curry house and the National Film Museum, there'd be absolutely no point in going there, ever.
Lee -- Do you have any conceivable reason for even getting up in the morning?
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Bradford where my mother lives IS a third world city.
Depends which part of Bradford.I delivered the phone book all around the Laisterdyke area and it was like a huge rubbish tip,recycling of all sorts of stuff going on,it actually smelled.
On the other hand there are some quite pleasant areas as well.
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>> Bradford where my mother lives IS a third world city. Depends which part of Bradford.I delivered the phone book all around the Laisterdyke area and it was like a huge rubbish tip, recycling of all sorts of stuff going on,it actually smelled. On the other hand there are some quite pleasant areas as well.
Most cities have their grotty zones, and Bradford is no exception. But as you say, there are plenty of nice parts too, some of them very nice indeed.
Name-change time: NoWheels + Almera = NowWheels
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I'm sure that mrmemder and others will recognise one bit in particular. A5 coming towards Bangor from Bettws y Coed about a mile from the 24 hr garage, a 90 degree bend with a house on the apex. Plenty of warning signs, nice extra grippy surface and now a big shiny sign announcing the name of the river you're about to plunge into 'cos it burnt your retinas.
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"Not had the bill for the air amulance"
That's the one bill you won't receive - I think all UK air ambulances are run charitably/via corporate sponsorship, although the NHS does provide the paramedics FOC.
Look up your local one on the web and feel free to contribute, or better still, run an event for them. You might really need it one day, like the roofer who fell into my kitchen via the skylight...
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My local council has just put a dose of speed bumps on one of the roads ledaing to my street. Great idea, wish we had them on my road too.
They are proper full-width humps, not those evil sharp-edged things with gaps inbetween, and nicely designed to be quite soft (not too high, not too steep etc). So they are very comfortable at 10mph even in the bockety old Fiesta I have been driving this weekend.
So far so good. Except that they have yet to put any white markings on them, and didn't put any warning signs up. The first time I frove down there after they were installed was in the dark, and at 25mph they gave me a nasty shock. How much would it have cost to put up a temporary sign saying "Warning: new speed bumps"??
Name-change time: NoWheels + Almera = NowWheels
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"How much would it have cost to put up a temporary sign saying "Warning: new speed bumps"??"
That?s a very good idea NW. I hit a new speed hump on a wet rainy night in Saint John?s Wood so hard that it snapped the lock on the boot of my XJS. I just didn?t see it. I wasn?t speeding either.
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' This is kind of motoring related....'
These bins are usually embossed with the makers name-MGB
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Many thanks to Edinburgh council for moving our local bus stops out into the middle of the road so that a bus can hold up everyone else when picking up passengers
Maybe these are a hang over from the congestion charge attempt and would have been removed once the charge was in place so they could prove traffic flowed better ?
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As mentioned at the start of this thread junction narrowing or build outs,these things drive me mad.I am still trying to find an explanation as to what they are supposed to do,no one seems to know.I can't believe they are meant to cause virtual gridlock,nor were they designed to make people have to drive on the pavement.What really makes me laugh,albeit through gritted teeth,is they narrow the road to one cars width then put a line down the middle,I suppose that is in case a couple of those old blue invalid carriages want to pass each other.
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Is this this Homezone concept ?
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I always thoiught that the junction buildouts were to stop cars from sweeping around the corner at speed, thereby making it easier for pedestrians to cross. If that's the intention, it works.
Name-change time: NoWheels + Almera = NowWheels
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I'm not sure which LA is responsible as the A580 goes through Knowsley and St Helens - could be the Dept. of Transport - but they have been holding up motorists for years. They started on the section from Kirkby to near Eccleston last October and it's nowhere completed. The section before that - a stretch of about one mile - took over eighteen months.
For a number of weeks, on the present stretch, there was a detour of about five miles on the west bound carriageway that was closed from 8.00pm until 6.00am.
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We have a local residential road which has been traffic calmed - narrowed the road over a railway bridge using pavement+bollards and then changed priorities: each right turn it has now become the right of way despite the fact the roads are all leading to newish housing estates which are dead ends. The turns have been shaped using pavements so it is impossible for two cars, unless Smart cars, to use the junctions at the same time ie if you are waiting to turn out of what was the main(ish) road, then the car turning in has no room to get past. Even more fun when you meet a bus. Wonder if the builders paid someone to make the estates more accessible?
It has, of course, reduced the traffic but hardly 'green' as many people now go the long way round via the town - over a mile further. That is, if they know the short cuts avoiding the two sets of traffic lights (50yds apart) in the centre of the town. The second set appeared when the new Town Hall was opened, presumably so our illustrious council workers are not held up getting to work. These also cause much misery as they do not work together and leave long queues.
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I always thoiught that the junction buildouts were to stop cars from sweeping around the corner at speed, thereby making it easier for pedestrians to cross. If that's the intention, it works. Name-change time: NoWheels + Almera = NowWheels
Maybe,but how many motorists want to corner like they are in a rally.Typical rush hour scenario at one junction I use a lot is me wanting to turn right,traffic behind me,traffic flowing the other way,5 cars queueing at the road I want to turn into.Oncoming traffic cannot let me across cos I can't get into the road cos of the buildouts,car waiting to come out can't cos I am in the way,I can't back up cos of traffic behind me,they can't back up cos of traffic behind them,built in gridlock,by now the mounting frustration is more likely to cause trouble than the odd driver cornering like a loony when the roads are empty.
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Maybe,but how many motorists want to corner like they are in a rally.Typical rush hour scenario at one junction I use a lot is me wanting to turn right,traffic behind me,traffic flowing the other way,5 cars queueing at the road I want to turn into.Oncoming traffic cannot let me across cos I can't get into the road cos of the buildouts,car waiting to come out can't cos I am in the way,I can't back up cos of traffic behind me,they can't back up cos of traffic behind them,built in gridlock,by now the mounting frustration is more likely to cause trouble than the odd driver cornering like a loony when the roads are empty.
Sierraman, try walking a bit more ;) The proportion of drivers who turn at corners without giving priority to pedestrians is alarmaingly high, and you'd be surprised how many drivers try to maintain speed when entrering a side road.
Name-change time: NoWheels + Almera = NowWheels
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'Sierraman, try walking a bit more ;) The proportion of drivers who turn at corners without giving priority to pedestrians is alarmaingly high, and you'd be surprised how many drivers try to maintain speed when entrering a side road.'
Actually,in one of my lines of work,I do a lot of walking,5-7 miles a day.I also use a bike and what happens with bikes and cars at buildouts and road narrowings?They are forced into close proximity.How do you know about the number of drivers?Have you done a survey?I would conjecture that a driver doing 20-30 mph coming up to a 90 deg.turn is going to be in second gear at a reasonable speed,not with tyres squealing and tacho redlining.I know we are meant to give way to peds crossing sidestreets but in the real world,on a main road with following traffic,this is not always practical or safe.The thousands of pounds these things cost would be better spent elsewhere IMO,road maintenance for example.
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Sierraman, and NowWheels: Junction narrowing, wider bollards, kerbed cycle lanes where they exist, speed bumps and mini roundabouts are put there for two reasons: to soak up the vast surplus of council tax money without forcing councillors to think about real stuff like schools and hospitals, and to OBSTRUCT THE TRAFFIC so that it doesn't flow properly and there is gridlock: just like in the third world where traffic wasn't expected until recently.
Stupid articulated buses also get terribly in the way. First saw these in Cairo in 1973. Britain catches up!
Whatever the reasons given, traffic calming, prevention of obstruction, public health, pedestrian safety, they are just lying carp.
Seems to me that in this town at least the political parties and mayoral candidates would be in with a chance if they said rational things about this. Indeed I can imagine voting against lifetime habit if the manifesto sounded good.
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This may not be the Council's decision (apologies if it's not) but someone has decided in the last year to move the Park & Ride in Bath from Queen's Square to Milsom Street. So now the buses have to negotiate comgested Broad Street which is particularly bad now as the Old Post Office is being renovated.
Nice one.
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Doubt if this is just down to the council, but here in Bury St edmunds, we've got a super new tower for the cathedral when what we really wanted was a new football ground!
Motoring connection? - the old ground would have made a great car park.
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Our lot are killing our nice little market town centre shopping with their exorbitant parking charges.
No shop assistant or low paid clerical worker is going to pay around £10 a day to park in council car parks and gradually more and more town centre shops and businesses are closing and people are shopping in the out of town sheds.
Very short sighted policy IMO - Midweek the local shopping centre is virtually deserted....
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Oh - but I forgot - they have to raise the £5 million to cover the shortfall in their cushy protected pension scheme somehow .....
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The upgrade of the West Coast Main Line required the replacement of a local level crossing, notorious for delay, with a bridge. Large and wide bridge duly erected spanning both railway and Grand Union canal, presumably at the expense of Network Railtrack.
County Council insist that it be restricted by wide verges to single lane/alternate direction and controlled by traffic lights. I give if three years before common sense prevails and bridge closed for several weeks to allow conversion to two lanes.
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For the third time the end of the M57 at Switch Island is being "improved" to aid traffic flow.
They made "improvements" to this about three years ago with massive changes and disruption. Why can't LAs or the Dept. of Transport get things right first time?
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Lud,could not agree more,all a sop to the motoring nannys and whinging road safety people who think their pathetic driving style should be enforced on everyone,like that loony BRAKE woman who thinks overtaking is a dangerous practice which should be banned.
As for buses,wasn't the double decker designed for British roads?The drivers here have enough trouble getting a normal bus parallel with the kerb,no chance with a bendy.
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Not my council, I am Cheshire: BUT has anyone got any idea why they're taking so long to "improve" the M60 near Trafford Park? I've never seen anyone do a stroke of work on it.
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they're taking so long to "improve" the M60 near Trafford Park? I've never seen anyone do a stroke of work on it.
Its taking a while because they are maintaining 3 lanes each way while widening the road to 4,involving the replacement of several bridges. Traffic flow seems no worse than before the improvements started IMO.
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they're taking so long to "improve" the M60 near Trafford Park? I've never seen anyone do a stroke of work on it. Its taking a while because they are maintaining 3 lanes each way while widening the road to 4,involving the replacement of several bridges. Traffic flow seems no worse than before the improvements started IMO.
The way they used to do it. Close the road down to one lane for 5 hours in the middle of the night, then go away leaving the whole road rough but serviceable when it's really needed...
Only wish there were a few councils like that in the Great Wen.
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