My normal commute is eight miles each way.Tuesday last week the M23 was closed and it took me an hour and five minutes to do the eight miles.
I drove from Crawley to Corby on Friday vis M23 , M25, M11, A14 left at 8.15am and arrived at 11am . Pleasant 2 hrs 45 min drive with no delays.
However on the M25 going , the other direction was more or less solid from M23 junction back to Clacketts lane and beyond due to an accident , at least six miles of solid traffic .
Left Corby at 3 15 pm .Returning on the A14 again .In the opposite direction , I saw a police car had coned off one lane , no obvious accident but the traffic was solid from Huntingdon back virtually to Cambridge, at least fourteen miles.
A14 and M11 chocka with lorries , at least four times I spent many frustrating minutes in a queue behind one lorry inching past another with a speed differential of .00001 mph.
Coup de Grace was Dartford - , I got over the bridge without problem but then spent the best part of an hour stuck in the mess of roadworks at the M25 / A2 Junction 2. I had plenty of time to listen to the radio traffic reports and luckily picked up on yet another accident on the M23 southbound that blocked two lanes.
After getting through the A2 junction I noticed that the northbound queue solid on the opposite carriageway back to Junction 4 , must have been five miles or so solid.
To avoid the M23 I came off the m25 at Junction 6 and travelled down country lanes to the A23 , at one point passing on a high level bridge over the M23 at Bletchingly .
The whole motorway was stopped southbound as far as the eye could see...
It took me an hour longer returning home than going and I arrived home frazzled , frustrated and ready for the shower and that first glass of Rioja ..
It occurred to me that some people have to put up with this frustration every day....Is this typical of your week or was I just unlucky?
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I suspect were you taking your refreshment where it comes from - or, indeed, at a place a comparable distance from Madrid - it would be vastly different.
Small country, relatively crowded, everybody wants a car because public transport is execrable, ...
Still, 14-9, eh?
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My other half does the M25, M23 run, and that sounds about typical!
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My commute is 9 miles and it never takes me more than 15 mins each way in the car.
If I cycle in then it's anything from 35 - 45 mins; depending upon weather conditions and the route I take.
But then I live in Lancashire, commute to Blackburn and the only bit of motorway I use (when in the car of course!) is the M55 which is a little tinpot motorway. The only congestion usually is going west bound in the morning and at the top of t'big hill between junctions 3 & 4 where it goes from 3 -> 2 lanes.
I remember living down the M3/M4 corridor once, when I was young.........
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Regular A14 commuting was the sole reason that some years ago I invested in a traffic warning system for the car, and have kept similar systems in or as part of every car I've owned since.
Must have saved countless hours by taking diversions etc before hitting the traffic, and this house recommends it.
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Driving any distance between about 7AM and 6.30PM is a complete disaster these days.
The cost to the economy, and the pollution caused, don't bear thinking about.
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Work started today on the new slip road from the M606 southbound to the M62 westbound to avoid a roundabout bottle neck. Unfortunately it will be reserved for vehicles with 2+ occupiers only.
Handy if you are taking your child to school, but like the M4 bus lane it will sit empty most of the time, being used by the occasional car which has 2+ people, by drivers who after 6 months will know it's not being policed and it will breed resentment from those are are trying to get to work alone to pay taxes to pay for such schemes.
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I thought blow up dolls well all the rage daveyjp on the road into leeds through pudsey ,to get round the 2 person rule?
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BB, just copying everyone else, thats your excuse and you are sticking to it!! :)
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2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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October to December is always the worst time for traffic congestion. In the run-up to Christmas (before whicih everything must be done) everyone is either at work or delivering things.
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