Well, that wound me up!

[Bullbasket]

T'as been said, that I'm  miserable beggar, and to a degree, I would agree, but I do like to vent my spleen every so often, and it would be nice if I and like minded miseries could do our venting without some muppet ruining it  by using inappropriate language or content.

So that said.........the state of the traffic in this country! Drove up from SW France on the Thursday before Telford, to the Channel Tunnel, a distance of nearly 400 miles. With a couple of stops so that swmbo could pollute the atmosphere, it took 7 hours. Next day we set off from Folkestone for Telford, and it took more than 8 hours to cover the 200 or so miles. The M25, the M40, the M42 and finally, the M5/M6 junction, were a complete nightmare, especially the M5/M6 junction. An hour and a quarter to travel ONE mile, all because of a broken down truck in the second lane. I was not best pleased. At least the drive back from Telford down to Southend was (fairly) uneventful. I must try a different route next year.

 

John. 

[Vince1159]

That's the reason i'm not a big fan of the uk,it's an island,a large island but still with a minimum of space....Meanwhile in europe it takes how long to drive between different countries for a holiday...

[Whofan]

If you come up from Dover/Southend, you might find it better to go up the M6 toll road, and then down to the M54.

 

The M6 toll road cuts off the dreaded M5/M6 junction, and the slow traffic  to J13 of M6. It costs about £6 for a car one way, but it might save you from blood boiling syndrome!

[Mr T]

The problem with UK roads is the lottery you play any time you go any distance. We had a straightforward run down to Telford, not withstanding a road closure on or normal route and so going a slightly different way. Going down to see my daughter or sister in law in Windsor and South London, always seems to be a trial. 

[IanHx]

1 hour ago, Bullbasket said:

T'as been said, that I'm  miserable beggar, and to a degree, I would agree, but I do like to vent my spleen every so often, and it would be nice if I and like minded miseries could do our venting without some muppet ruining it  by using inappropriate language or content.

So that said.........the state of the traffic in this country! Drove up from SW France on the Thursday before Telford, to the Channel Tunnel, a distance of nearly 400 miles. With a couple of stops so that swmbo could pollute the atmosphere, it took 7 hours. Next day we set off from Folkestone for Telford, and it took more than 8 hours to cover the 200 or so miles. The M25, the M40, the M42 and finally, the M5/M6 junction, were a complete nightmare, especially the M5/M6 junction. An hour and a quarter to travel ONE mile, all because of a broken down truck in the second lane. I was not best pleased. At least the drive back from Telford down to Southend was (fairly) uneventful. I must try a different route next year.

 

John. 

 

 

Welcome to the West Midlands motorway system.

Now you can see why some of us are so keen on Work From Home !!!

[fatfingers]

Round Leeds way if anything happens on the M1, M62, M621 A64 or A58 the entire road network just grinds to a halt! Even worse when Leeds Utd are playing at home on a weekday evening. On one recent occasion it took me 3 hours to do a journey that usually takes 20 minutes! By the time i got home my left knee had seized up (its a bit dodgy) Leeds council have decided they want Leeds to be the first UK city where you 'don't need a car' They are spending huge wads on bus and cycle lanes to encourage us to leave our cars at home. I will get the bus when they are cheap, run on time, don't knock and are clean. The amount of rubbish on them is terrible with muck and food debris all over the floors and often the seats too.

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[Mr T]

Steve is quite right, when I was still working, my morning and evening commute could take hugely different times. There is a major meeting of roads in Leeds called the Armley Gyratory. If there is a problem there it backs the whole road system up in Leeds. I used to get the train at one stage, but the although the theoretical journey home from Woodlesford to Leeds was about 10-15 minutes, you could wait that long to get a path into Leeds Station as the train had to cross virtually all the tracks into the station. If of course you could get on the train. Our buses are pretty dire as well. Our service is provided by Non-Arriva (a subsidiary of DB, the German State Railway) and us frequently late or knocks. Mind you reading up about the buses, the complaints about the services to our bit of greater Leeds date from the nineteen thirties. 

Spleen vented for another day. 

[fatfingers]

11 hours ago, Mr T said:

Armley Gyratory. 

Ah yes, the whacky roundabout! At some point next year the council will be totally 're-modelling' this to 'improve traffic flow and reduce delays' Doubt it will be any better and the chaos will last at least 2 years whilst they do it. This is the route i need to use to take mrs fatfingers to and from work. A truck load of cones and signs have now started to appear on the kerb edges all ready for the shenannigans to commence 😬

 

Regards,

 

Steve

[Toe]

Was going to take it easy to Telford from the East so was planning on plenty of time to go through the M6 as the toll is nearer £7 on a weekday before 7pm and I'm tight but there was an accident on the A14, similar scenario, nearly an hour to get around a mile to find it was a car going into the back of another, this tipped us into rush hour (if there is any now) and the gantry signs said 20 minute delay on some junction on the M6 so toll it was. It is a nice road with few lorries and for the most part a nice surface but boy is it expensive.... I don't do many long motorway/dual carriageway journey's now but I've found it pays to just relax and go with the flow rather than try to make time up

Might be a bit out of your way though 

[Skodadriver]

This discussion reminds me why I learned to ride a motorbike! Despite my stage name it's still my preferred means of transport.

[Ratch]

Every time there is the slightest incident between junctions 15 & 16 on the M1 traffic is diverted around Northampton’s dual carriageway. What happened to the days when broken down vehicles were moved to the hard shoulder and traffic continued moving? Probably to do with Elfen Safety 

[Biggles87]

I'm glad I don't drive regularly in the UK any more, I've come to like driving again here, especially in our little rural bubble. It took me quite a time to not have to add contingency times on relatively short journeys. 

[IanHx]

2 hours ago, Ratch said:

Every time there is the slightest incident between junctions 15 & 16 on the M1 traffic is diverted around Northampton’s dual carriageway. What happened to the days when broken down vehicles were moved to the hard shoulder and traffic continued moving? Probably to do with Elfen Safety 

 

Some bright spark thought it was "smart" to turn the hard shoulder into a live lane.....

[Bullbasket]

On 20/11/2021 at 19:42, Whofan said:

If you come up from Dover/Southend, you might find it better to go up the M6 toll road, and then down to the M54.

 

That's my usual route, but this time we weren't going to Southend first, so we took the route that we did. It was fine two years ago when we came from Caen to Portsmouth and followed a similar route, but this time we caught all the crap.

 

John.

[Bullbasket]

5 hours ago, Skodadriver said:

This discussion reminds me why I learned to ride a motorbike! Despite my stage name it's still my preferred means of transport.

Yes I agree, but it's a bit difficult to get all of the kits which I bought at Telford onto the back of a motorbike. Oh and swmbo as well.

 

John.

[Jb65rams]

9 hours ago, fatfingers said:

Ah yes, the whacky roundabout! At some point next year the council will be totally 're-modelling' this to 'improve traffic flow and reduce delays' Doubt it will be any better and the chaos will last at least 2 years whilst they do it. This is the route i need to use to take mrs fatfingers to and from work. A truck load of cones and signs have now started to appear on the kerb edges all ready for the shenannigans to commence 😬

 

Regards,

 

Steve

Great joy!! Something to look forward to, not. Wasn’t aware of the planned works. 

[John Tapsell]

On 11/20/2021 at 6:42 PM, Whofan said:

If you come up from Dover/Southend, you might find it better to go up the M6 toll road, and then down to the M54.

 

The M6 toll road cuts off the dreaded M5/M6 junction, and the slow traffic  to J13 of M6. It costs about £6 for a car one way, but it might save you from blood boiling syndrome!

If you want to avoid the M6 Toll, follow the A446 past the Belfry Golf Course, drop onto the A38 north towards Lichfield and then follow the A5 - that route pretty much parallels the M6 Toll for its entire length - marginally longer time-wise but no toll to pay. Once you reach Cannock you can either continue along the A5 or branch off onto the A460 that cuts across to J1 of the M54. As a local, I always use that route rather than the M6 Toll.

[Admiral Puff]

This thread brings to mind an old Goon Show line: "... the government's latest Dig-Up-The-Roads Plan for Congesting Traffic"!

 

In my part of heaven, I just tell my visitors to leave five minutes later - that way they avoid rush hour ...

[Whofan]

33 minutes ago, John Tapsell said:

If you want to avoid the M6 Toll, follow the A446 past the Belfry Golf Course, drop onto the A38 north towards Lichfield and then follow the A5 - that route pretty much parallels the M6 Toll for its entire length - marginally longer time-wise but no toll to pay. Once you reach Cannock you can either continue along the A5 or branch off onto the A460 that cuts across to J1 of the M54. As a local, I always use that route rather than the M6 Toll.

Thanks John, always useful to have local knowledge of the roads to use !

[bentwaters81tfw]

Only drawback on the A5 is lots of roundabouts. If you take the A5 all the way to Telford, watch for speed cameras - lots of them.

[Stef N.]

14 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

I'm glad I don't drive regularly in the UK any more, I've come to like driving again here, especially in our little rural bubble. It took me quite a time to not have to add contingency times on relatively short journeys. 

If you're not in a rush and are not necessarily aiming for anywhere in particular some of the roads are fantastic, or seem so. The Norfolk, Dorset, Suffolk and Kent coast roads spring instantly to mind. If you are needing to get somewhere then a lot of our main roads aren't fit for purpose and haven't keep up with population and driver increases.

[RobL]

Welcome to Britain.

 

You should try using public transport to get around...

 

For car drivers it's two dirty inconvenient words, for those of us that are stuck using it, well, it's shambolic at best...

Edited November 22, 2021 by RobL

[ckw]

55 minutes ago, RobL said:

for those of us that are stuck using it, well, it's shambolic at best...

and far too expensive. There is something fundamentally wrong when it is cheaper for me to fly to major UK cities than take the train, or drive to London and park for the day than take a 70 mile train journey.

 

As for buses, my wife and I recently missed the last local bus after an event, so ended up getting a taxi home. It turned out cheaper than 2 bus tickets.

 

Everywhere I have been on the continent (Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Germany) public transport is faster, cheaper and more reliable than in the UK.

 

Cheers

 

Colin

 

 

[janneman36]

8 minutes ago, ckw said:

and far too expensive. There is something fundamentally wrong when it is cheaper for me to fly to major UK cities than take the train, or drive to London and park for the day than take a 70 mile train journey.

 

As for buses, my wife and I recently missed the last local bus after an event, so ended up getting a taxi home. It turned out cheaper than 2 bus tickets.

 

Everywhere I have been on the continent (Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Germany) public transport is faster, cheaper and more reliable than in the UK.

 

Cheers

 

Colin

 

 

And we think it is expensive in the Netherlands 😂

[Graham Boak]

Which is because these places subsidise public transport through local taxes/rates, whereas our rulers have decided not to in the UK.  However other forms of transport do receive subsidies in the form of road building, manufacturing support and other methods.  The worship of the private motor car, and the subservience of all other forms of transport and urban development to it, has resulted in a different balance than seen elsewhere.  

 

I would however question whether the comparison with the air fare did include the cost of driving to the airport and parking fees - let alone (most often omitted) the depreciation of the car and the other costs of ownership beyond the fuel.  I suspect a true cost comparison may give different answers.