60mph speed limit proposal for M1

[samsparro 10]

My understanding of the new section and the use of the hard shoulder all the time is down to cost.

 

Unlike the M1 from J28 south to J25 where it is four lanes AND a hard shoulder, the stretch this thread refers to will be four lanes with no hard shoulder.

 

There will be 'break out' areas but they will be over a kilometer apart and unlike the other stretches of the motorway the gantries over the top will also be much further apart (the ones that tell you a lane is closed and everyone ignores)!

 

So it is all about money, it costs too much to widen it to four lanes and a hard shoulder, so this is the next best thing.

 

Me? I wouldn't want to be sat in a live lane on a cold and wet December evening in a broken down car in an unlit motorway...

[ECCOnoob 1,040]

I think the whole scheme is rediculous. At rush hour it doesn't move anyway. As far speed restrictions in off peak hours - its madness.

 

Its supposed to be a motorway. A trunk route to get from one part of the country to the other. Reading up on the details - it seems far more about a knee jerk reaction to comply with the EU guff rather than anything to benefit us road users.

 

Letter to MP has been sent. I want to know in black and white why, if its supposed to be about studying air pollution "...over a number of years.." they dont use somewhere that is really congested ala M62 / M6 or M42.

 

Perhaps the Councillors in those areas told the Highways Agency where to go unlike our shower.

[anywebsite 10]

My understanding of the new section and the use of the hard shoulder all the time is down to cost.

 

Unlike the M1 from J28 south to J25 where it is four lanes AND a hard shoulder, the stretch this thread refers to will be four lanes with no hard shoulder.

 

There will be 'break out' areas but they will be over a kilometer apart and unlike the other stretches of the motorway the gantries over the top will also be much further apart (the ones that tell you a lane is closed and everyone ignores)!

 

So it is all about money, it costs too much to widen it to four lanes and a hard shoulder, so this is the next best thing.

 

Me? I wouldn't want to be sat in a live lane on a cold and wet December evening in a broken down car in an unlit motorway...

 

You should never sit in a broken down car on a motorway, not even in the hard shoulder. You get out & away from the road as quickly as you can, no matter how cold or wet it is.

 

I do agree though, lack of a hard shoulder is stupid. If they were concerned about safety they'd add lights & keep the hard shoulder.

[Alcoblog 10]

I don't know why they don't just close Sheffield down altogether. This isn't a 'safety' or environmental thing ... just another stealth tax. A way to get more money from the motorist to help pay for the ineptitude of local and main government.

 

A car going at 70mph won't belch out more fumes than a car doing 60 ... probably quite the reverse. Neither is 70mph fast ... quite a few vehicles will do that in first gear! It's certainly not dangerous either if you know how to drive properly. The 50mph limit in Derbyshire's bad enough, fortunately most people ignore it and just drive sensibly. Cars have come a long way since they were first invented.

 

I'm wondering if electric cars will be exempt from this new 'law' anyway, if it is just purely being introduced to keep down supposed exhaust emissions ... somehow I don't think so as there'll be less people to fine. Bureaucracy ...

[tinfoilhat 11]

I don't know why they don't just close Sheffield down altogether. This isn't a 'safety' or environmental thing ... just another stealth tax. A way to get more money from the motorist to help pay for the ineptitude of local and main government.

 

A car going at 70mph won't belch out more fumes than a car doing 60 ... probably quite the reverse. Neither is 70mph fast ... quite a few vehicles will do that in first gear! It's certainly not dangerous either if you know how to drive properly. The 50mph limit in Derbyshire's bad enough, fortunately most people ignore it and just drive sensibly. Cars have come a long way since they were first invented.

 

I'm wondering if electric cars will be exempt from this new 'law' anyway, if it is just purely being introduced to keep down supposed exhaust emissions ... somehow I don't think so as there'll be less people to fine. Bureaucracy ...

 

We aren't we all driving electric cars anyway? The internal combustion engine is pretty much the same as it was a hundred years! Where's my hovvercar Maggie philbin?

[Mr Clowning 10]

I don't know why they don't do a lottery on the speeds, that way from one day to the next they could change it without people knowing and fine more people, after all that's what this lot is all about, raking in the £s.

[Cyclone 10]

It's all to do with this hard shoulder running and how many people are going to get killed as they breakdown where there is nowhere to pull over safely. The Highways Agency are obviously scared of the number of deaths there WILL be and this is a stealth measure to try to make hard shoulder running appear safer than it actually is.

 

It's noticeable that the limit is being proposed along the whole of the hard shoulder running section, EVEN THE RURAL BITS TO THE SOUTH, WHERE THERE ARE FEW HOUSES. So to say it's for health reasons for residents is a blatant lie.

 

It's not though, read the proposal, safety is not an issue, it's all about 'managing traffic growth' and air quality. And the intention is to remove the speed limit after some number of years when the air quality targets have been met.

 

---------- Post added 07-01-2014 at 07:29 ----------

 

But surely few Sheffielders use j29 to j36?

 

---------- Post added 06-01-2014 at 17:16 ----------

 

Who's she, then?

 

Going south I'd think that the majority of traffic from Junc 33 is Sheffielders.

 

---------- Post added 07-01-2014 at 07:31 ----------

 

In the release does say the distance may be reduced.

Its also about increasing. capacity with smooth flows, the limit goes back to 70 after 7pm.

In a bright shiny future, when the roads truely are full, HS2 will br whistling by at 180mph

 

The entire section will already have a variable overhead limit though, so if the traffic is heavy the limit could be set to 60 or lower. This proposal is NOT about maintaining flow, it's about 'managing' capacity (ie making the motorway undesirable because it's slow) and pollution.

[Doom 10]

It's all to do with this hard shoulder running and how many people are going to get killed as they breakdown where there is nowhere to pull over safely. The Highways Agency are obviously scared of the number of deaths there WILL be and this is a stealth measure to try to make hard shoulder running appear safer than it actually is.

 

It's noticeable that the limit is being proposed along the whole of the hard shoulder running section, EVEN THE RURAL BITS TO THE SOUTH, WHERE THERE ARE FEW HOUSES. So to say it's for health reasons for residents is a blatant lie.

 

That is a very good point and one I'd certainly not considered.

 

I think your comments are certainly food for thought and it does make me now wonder if the pollution angle is just an excuse rather than a valid reason.

 

Regards

 

Doom

 

---------- Post added 07-01-2014 at 08:24 ----------

 

If all 3 (or possibly 4) lanes of the motorway are travelling at 60 mph, how easy will it be for someone in the outside lane to get into the inside lane when the motorway is busy?

 

When I travel on the motorway I tend to accelerate past the vehicles on the inside lanes and then move over into the available space, but if I'm restricted to 60 mph I'm not going to be able to do that unless the lane inside is travelling at about 50 mph.

 

Will motorists in the outside lanes have to slow down to below 60mph (slowing all the traffic in that lane) to find a gap in the inside lane before moving over?

 

In practice I'm not sure how this is going to work.

 

Regards

 

Doom

[SportsTrophy 10]

The emission levels near the motorway in Sheffield need to be cut as they are well over the European limits so fines will be imposed. The hybrid/electric technology was given a chance but drivers have made their choice otherwise, hence the inevitable consequence.

 

Once the emission technology is more widespread and the air is consistently cleaner then it will be looked at again, it's up to you to do your bit.

[Mr Bloom 10]

It's all to do with this hard shoulder running and how many people are going to get killed as they breakdown where there is nowhere to pull over safely. The Highways Agency are obviously scared of the number of deaths there WILL be and this is a stealth measure to try to make hard shoulder running appear safer than it actually is.

 

It's noticeable that the limit is being proposed along the whole of the hard shoulder running section, EVEN THE RURAL BITS TO THE SOUTH, WHERE THERE ARE FEW HOUSES. So to say it's for health reasons for residents is a blatant lie.

 

Nail on the head. The whole thing stinks as much as the pollution. And there's tons of cameras in place already on this stretch, so why not rake some more money in from them!?!

[Cyclone 10]

]If all 3 (or possibly 4) lanes of the motorway are travelling at 60 mph, how easy will it be for someone in the outside lane to get into the inside lane when the motorway is busy?

 

When I travel on the motorway I tend to accelerate past the vehicles on the inside lanes and then move over into the available space, but if I'm restricted to 60 mph I'm not going to be able to do that unless the lane inside is travelling at about 50 mph.

That's called overtaking, but if you're in the inside lane doing 60 mph why would you need to overtake.

 

Will motorists in the outside lanes have to slow down to below 60mph (slowing all the traffic in that lane) to find a gap in the inside lane before moving over?

Yes, because on other motorways that have a variable speed limit, when it's set to 60 nobody can ever change lane without stopping first.

 

In practice I'm not sure how this is going to work.

 

 

In practice it would work much like other motorways when the variable speed limit is set to 60, the problem is that it wouldn't ever be set to higher than that.

[Doom 10]

That's called overtaking, but if you're in the inside lane doing 60 mph why would you need to overtake.

Yes, because on other motorways that have a variable speed limit, when it's set to 60 nobody can ever change lane without stopping first.

 

In practice it would work much like other motorways when the variable speed limit is set to 60, the problem is that it wouldn't ever be set to higher than that.

 

Not everybody will use the inside lane though, because of the variable speeds, especially when lorries are climbing up steep stretches of roads.

 

I'm just wondering if people who find themselves in the outside lane when the traffic starts to speed up on a downhill stretch may find themselves getting boxed in and unable to move across without either speeding up beyond the speed limit or slowing down to slower than the traffic on the inside lanes so they can move across.

 

Of course this wouldn't be an issue if motorists left a decent braking distance between the car in front, but from my experience of motorway driving, far too many motorists tailgate the vehicle in front leaving no gap for cars to switch lanes.

 

Regards

 

Doom