M1 roadworks (Leeds and Chesterfield)

[Cyclone 10]

It's in the news, the government wants roadworks to never exceed 5 miles on the motorway...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34323179

 

I've only been to Leeds twice this week, for 11am and 12am Tues and Wed.

 

On Tues, there was no work taking place in the roadworks. Signs saying "My Dad works here", but apparently not on a Tuesday in the middle of the day...

 

And on Wed I saw 2 vehicles and about 6 men, none of whom appeared to actually do anything (I could only see them for about 30 seconds of course).

 

So perhaps the reason these road works are 10 miles long and go on for years at a time is that most of the time nobody is working there...

[tinfoilhat 11]

It's in the news, the government wants roadworks to never exceed 5 miles on the motorway...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-34323179

 

I've only been to Leeds twice this week, for 11am and 12am Tues and Wed.

 

On Tues, there was no work taking place in the roadworks. Signs saying "My Dad works here", but apparently not on a Tuesday in the middle of the day...

 

And on Wed I saw 2 vehicles and about 6 men, none of whom appeared to actually do anything (I could only see them for about 30 seconds of course).

 

So perhaps the reason these road works are 10 miles long and go on for years at a time is that most of the time nobody is working there...

 

Most of the workforce were billeted in caravans at 29a - they've been gone for months now. I suspect they're down to bare bones staff wise.

 

That said, I remember when they did the A1(m) it was a 50mph limit for months waiting for a green light to finish it.

[Cyclone 10]

Perhaps if they hadn't all left they could get it finished and remove the reduced limit and narrow lanes... It just seems like they have no sense of urgency, they don't care about the congestion or inconvenience it causes.

[tinfoilhat 11]

Perhaps if they hadn't all left they could get it finished and remove the reduced limit and narrow lanes... It just seems like they have no sense of urgency, they don't care about the congestion or inconvenience it causes.

 

I suspect because it's over run most of the contractors are now down the M1 jct 19 to (I think) 15 or the M3 doing the same thing.

[darylslinn 10]

The M1 near Chesterfield, between junctions 28 and 31 is the holder of the record for the longest stretch of roadworks currently in the UK, 18.1 miles !

BONKERS !

[tzijlstra 11]

I started my PhD 5 years ago next week, in Loughborough. The roadworks from Chesterfield to Nottingham have been going on since I did. 5 years to fix 15 miles of motorway.

 

It takes the Dutch 3 months to redo a 40 kilometer stretch to become 3 lane from 2.

 

But it is alright, it is what the British driver expects apparently.

[tinfoilhat 11]

I started my PhD 5 years ago next week, in Loughborough. The roadworks from Chesterfield to Nottingham have been going on since I did. 5 years to fix 15 miles of motorway.

 

It takes the Dutch 3 months to redo a 40 kilometer stretch to become 3 lane from 2.

 

But it is alright, it is what the British driver expects apparently.

 

It hasn't been that long I assure you. It's not even been three years. And it's not just doing a bit of resurfacing either. It's an upgrade to smart motorways which has involved more than you'd think. That said, it really should have been done by now.

 

You did have road works widening the m1 from 28 to 25 but that finished a few years ago.

[andyofborg 11]

the roadworks will have gone on monday

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/roadworks-to-be-removed-on-m1-in-yorkshire-and-the-east-midlands

[medusa 16]

The thing that really gets me about these roadworks is that they say that work should happen at night, which is all very well, but they don't even put up proper diversion signs when they close the entire motorway from 8pm and dump the entire contents of the M1 into an industrial estate or a village and expect everybody to know how to get to where they need to be.

 

I live in Sheffield, my sister lives just outside Bradford, so as you can imagine we do see quite a lot of the M1 and the M62. In the last few months every time I've tried to return from her house after 8pm one or other of the motorways has been shut, and you just end up sitting in an extremely slow crocodile of traffic in an attempt to get to a junction that allows you to continue your journey and suddenly a journey which should take an hour is taking over two.

 

We've actually started getting creative with going cross country rather than getting on the motorway in the first place because the delays can get so bad. The last time I tried to come home late in the evening it happened twice in one journey (M1/M62 junction was closed and so was J38-37 M1 southbound) and so since then I've chosen to head across the M62 and then come home using the A629 to Huddersfield and then home using the A616.

 

Yes, I understand that you want to do work, but do you have to close the entire motorway every night?

[andyofborg 11]

Yes, I understand that you want to do work, but do you have to close the entire motorway every night?

 

yes they do, sometimes they need to be able to do things across the whole motorway. closing the motorway during a normal weekeday will cause far more disruption than doing it at night

 

---------- Post added 24-09-2015 at 20:30 ----------

 

Well they've had my fine money out of it for doing 58 miles an hour at six in the morning without another car in sight.

 

you should have waited a few months until the variable speed limits come in

 

---------- Post added 24-09-2015 at 20:33 ----------

 

And on Wed I saw 2 vehicles and about 6 men, none of whom appeared to actually do anything (I could only see them for about 30 seconds of course).

 

they are a bit like weeping angels and freeze if anyone looks at them

[tinfoilhat 11]

Well they've had my fine money out of it for doing 58 miles an hour at six in the morning without another car in sight.

 

6 in the morning and no other car in sight? Was that Christmas morning?

[Hook 10]

And it's not just doing a bit of resurfacing either. It's an upgrade to smart motorways which has involved more than you'd think. That said, it really should have been done by now.

 

What I don't understand is why when I drove along there one evening this summer there was only one lane open and they were demolishing the concrete central reservation that they had built only a few years ago. They've since rebuilt it.

 

What a waste.