Traffic nightmares in Sheffield...again!

[goldenfleece 11]

Someone I know at Uni into advanced systems modelling has made a quite complex computer model of Sheffields Inner ring road system and its feeders, and populated it with standard traffic patterns based on current cars, buses and lorries estimates.journeys etc, and predicts it will fail completely and absolutely when the final new sections are completed, based on factors such as

1) Appalling short sighted and flawed design shows huge mistakes which will lead to total gridlock around the whole ring road network in the event of a SINGLE accident which blocks ONE lane in any direction at several key points..

 

it WILL get much worse, I assure you......

[d71146 10]

Someone I know at Uni into advanced systems modelling has made a quite complex computer model of Sheffields Inner ring road system and its feeders, and populated it with standard traffic patterns based on current cars, buses and lorries estimates.journeys etc, and predicts it will fail completely and absolutely when the final new sections are completed, based on factors such as

1) Appalling short sighted and flawed design shows huge mistakes which will lead to total gridlock around the whole ring road network in the event of a SINGLE accident which blocks ONE lane in any direction at several key points..

 

it WILL get much worse, I assure you......

 

Nothing new there then.

[Tintsexpert 10]

Someone I know at Uni into advanced systems modelling has made a quite complex computer model of Sheffields Inner ring road system and its feeders, and populated it with standard traffic patterns based on current cars, buses and lorries estimates.journeys etc, and predicts it will fail completely and absolutely when the final new sections are completed, based on factors such as

1) Appalling short sighted and flawed design shows huge mistakes which will lead to total gridlock around the whole ring road network in the event of a SINGLE accident which blocks ONE lane in any direction at several key points..

 

it WILL get much worse, I assure you......

 

 

Good old SCC, Does it again, wonder what else is sat waiting to come over the horizon & bite them on the a***:hihi:

[Skippy06 10]

The Whicker is a bus gate at the arches end so the cars are currently in the wrong and will get fined when the cameras are in operation.

 

However what the council should have done is leave the Wicker at two lanes outbound allowing access to the chemist more easily etc and have one lane for cars (outside lane) and one lane for a dedicated bus lane from Waingate which could be opened up to other traffic when the busses have finished operating. That would allow the busses unhindered access and stop these delays. Any cars wanting Spital Hill would then be able to travel down Attercliffe Road and up Gower Street to Spital Hill. A little bit longer but not half as long as they will be when the cameras are working.

 

Another point is the Barnsley Road bus services, all the way to Chapeltown are part of the quality bus corridor so are the council going to be fined or have action taken against them as it is they who are now delaying and making late every bus service that uses this corridor and therefore having a serious knock on affect for everyone who uses these services?

 

Maybe Haydn1971 can back me up on this but I would check this out if I was you because according to the last map I got of the scc website the only section of the Wicker that is a bus gate is the bit across the new road meaning you can go down Savile Street under the arches and filter left onto the new road up towards the Parkway. You can see the link somewhere on hear.

 

I will agree that I have had my concerns about the IRR however so far I don’t think it is that bad. Last night was ridiculous but up to now it has reduced my journey time. I today going to the Wicker it looked like the lights were working in my favour.

 

Today I left work at 4.45 on Savile Street and using the new IRR I was on Penistone Rd within about 5 minutes maybe 10 total journey to Loxley took 30 minutes which I don’t think is bad the problems I have is in Hillsborough which is a complete joke around Morrison’s and up by the Park Hotel.

 

My main concern was how someone from the North of Sheffield would get up City Road but looking at the map from SCC it is the same down Nursery Street across Blonk Street onto Park Square and up City Road.

 

Haydn1971 will the lights filtering traffic down the road prior to City Road be looked at because this had been a problem for years they only let 3 cars through if your ready?

[Haydn1971 10]

Hayd - I presume you've seen the studies that indicate that nearly all junctions actually have better flow when the traffic lights are off. We've seen it in sheffield when the traffic lights fail and no queue develops (unlike normal).

Maybe not every junction as some would become dangerous, but lights off after 2200 might work in many cases.

 

Well, to be fair, most of these "better without traffic lights/roadmakings/signs" items are often misquoted. The reality is that yes a single junction can in a few cases work better without traffic signals than with them, however, when you look at a complex network as a whole, traffic lights become critical to keeping the network flows balanced - traffic lights are often used to moderate flows from side roads in order to ensure the main roads flow better - it annoys the driver sat in side road, but benefits the many drivers on the main road.

 

Again, turning traffic lights off after a certain time, would work at some junctions, but most junctions rely on signal controlled turns for safety - for example, you wouldn't want to turn right at Cutlers Gate across 3 lanes of the Sheffield Parkway without the assurance of traffic signals...

 

Lets not forget that the standards that roads are designed for look after the interests and safety of all users and that roads are designed to be safe even for the numpties !

[Haydn1971 10]

[ironymode]Perhaps the council could paint yellow cross hatches in front of every junction, then install camera's so that offenders who block the junctions can be fined.[/ironymode]

 

Perhaps drivers should just read the highway code again, which clearly states that you shouldn't block junctions !

 

Over proliforation of a single type of sign/roadmarking leads to it becoming undervalued by the driver because they see it everywhere...

[Haydn1971 10]

Someone I know at Uni into advanced systems modelling has made a quite complex computer model of Sheffields Inner ring road system and its feeders, and populated it with standard traffic patterns based on current cars, buses and lorries estimates.journeys etc, and predicts it will fail completely and absolutely when the final new sections are completed

 

It's easy to make any model fail when you type any old data in... does your contact have all the traffic counts, turn data, origin and destination data, traffic signal times, bus timetables, has your contact been and measured each road width, lane width and factored in for gradients and crossfalls... I predict that they haven't and your contact is making it up as they go along.

[Haydn1971 10]

Maybe Haydn1971 can back me up on this but I would check this out if I was you because according to the last map I got of the scc website the only section of the Wicker that is a bus gate is the bit across the new road meaning you can go down Savile Street under the arches and filter left onto the new road up towards the Parkway. You can see the link somewhere on hear.

 

The map on the SCC website is rubbish to be fair, it doesn't really show the true layout and has been bastardised to make it easier to read... You are correct in saying that you can do Savile Street > under the Arch > filter left to the Parkway

 

I will agree that I have had my concerns about the IRR however so far I don’t think it is that bad. Last night was ridiculous but up to now it has reduced my journey time. I today going to the Wicker it looked like the lights were working in my favour.

 

I used it this morning from the Parkway to Corporation Street and was gobsmacked at how empty it was... all will change once the link between Castlegate and West Bar is closed though

 

Today I left work at 4.45 on Savile Street and using the new IRR I was on Penistone Rd within about 5 minutes maybe 10 total journey to Loxley took 30 minutes which I don’t think is bad the problems I have is in Hillsborough which is a complete joke around Morrison’s and up by the Park Hotel.

 

The dash from Savile Street to Penistone Road is so much more direct now... I'm at odds why folk didn't complain about the old route !

 

My main concern was how someone from the North of Sheffield would get up City Road but looking at the map from SCC it is the same down Nursery Street across Blonk Street onto Park Square and up City Road.

 

The Nursery Street to Blonk Street link will be cut soon too... The route will be via the new road, then turn right at Cutlers Gate and then left at Park Square - It seems longer and in terms of milage it's longer, but try it and see how you feel. As I;ve said many times before the IRR was about removing the severance between the Wicker area and the central area - i.e. regeneration

 

Haydn1971 will the lights filtering traffic down the road prior to City Road be looked at because this had been a problem for years they only let 3 cars through if your ready?

 

They are like that for a reason - i.e. to reduce the number of folks slipping off at Manor Lane and trapping down Cricket Inn Road. To give more time to these lights would require taking time off the Sheffield Parkway entry to Park Square and would probably require a new configuration for the whole roundabout... sounds ott i know, but sadly thats the way it is...

[garryn 10]

Perhaps drivers should just read the highway code again, which clearly states that you shouldn't block junctions !

 

They should anyway. Might surprise a few to learn that sitting past the advance stop lines, on the cyclists advance boxes can earn them 3 points and a fine.

 

Traffic was generally fine last night. From near the ski village to Maltby 45mins. Pedal powers great!

[Livewirex 10]

It will all start to get better after Christmas, and the council fix all the roads that they are leaving with temp traffic lights on until the new year. It's impossible to get from Stocksbridge/Deepcar without a long delay at road works with nobody working. Hurry up the next council elections.

[Basalt 10]

I'm glad stephenr has brought up the Chapeltown route along Barnsley Road because that's become worse recently. A queue starts from High Greave these days and by the time it reaches Firvale it's stopped most of the time. Is this to prevent it building up at Spital Hill because by then it's clear. The traffic lights at Deerlands, Lane top, Firvale and Norwood al conspire to create hold ups. And, don't get me started on Ecclesfield.

[MkII 10]

Having seen the effects of the introduction of the inner "relief" road at rush hour the last couple of days, one can only conclude it is so far a complete and unmitigated disaster.

 

Excuses from the council range from power cuts, to traffic light syncronisation, to blaming drivers for not using it (had they even bothered to look, they might see it has been gridlocked).

 

It is completely illogical to pump a whole new flow of traffic on to the bottom of the Parkway at Park Square, and then not adjust the traffic lights to allow for it. When finally reaching Park Square from the Parkway it is clear to see one of the problems. People from the Parkway (including new ring road traffic) are waiting on red while the green light is on to allow traffic round the roundabout from the right (now devoid of ring road traffic, so effectively the Parkway flow is giving way to barely anything). Since these lights are not far from the lights where Ring Rd traffic is forced on to the Parkway, the net result is gridlock. What used to be an average queue in evening rush hour from the 'Matalan' traffic lights' to the Matalan slip road, is now a tailback right back to Parkway markets.

 

This is just one example from what I've seen in the last few days. A few more of these and it's easy to see why it's such a catastrophe so far.

 

In the last few years, journey times through Sheffield have increased by unprecedented levels from my own personal experience. Car usage is not rising in line with these journey time increases. Conclusion? Failing and inept traffic management policies. Too many bus lanes, too many traffic lights, too many crossings, bad traffic light timings, crossings too close to roundabout exits causing lethal tailbacks on to roundabouts (St Mary's/ Brammall Lane is a death trap now), too many one way systems, too many alternatives routes blocked off, the list is ENDLESS.

 

I don't know whether this is deliberately anti-car, so as to create congestion and justify the introduction of a congestion charge, or whether it is sheer incompetance. What I do know is that undoing the "improvements" over the last 5 years would reduce journey times across the city.