Just been along the M3 southbound and came upon average speed cameras on both sides of the carriageway between Js3-4.
Can anyone confirm if these cameras are "live", as there are no signs stating that there is a variable speed limit in operation for this section.
Or are they left over from the roadworks that finished there last year?
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I saw them too.
Looked to me that they were preparing for some more road works.
Remember it's at least a year since they had road works on that stretch, so they probably feel we are overdue for some more.
HJ
Edited by Honestjohn on 20/02/2009 at 14:19
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I travel on this stretch most mornings and up to last week there were no cameras there. I haven't been along there this week (half term, so I don't have to drop my daughter off at college) so I suspect they are very new. TomTom traffic was warning me a couple of weeks ago of delays in this area, on checking the detail it thought there was a contraflow in place. Perhaps TT got their dates wrong and put in uncoming roadworks too soon (wouldn't be the first time).
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R.C. of Abingdon has jusrt asked the Highways Agency the following question:-
I use the M4 between Bath and the A34 turn off every day (more or less). At the moment there are two sections of road works, one around Swindon and the other around the Chievely services. All normal so far then. These sections have been worked on frequently since I have been doing this commute over the last few years
What bothers me is this. The one around Swindon has about 3 miles of 50mph speed limit because a bridge is being built. At the moment the work is taking place a long way from the carriageway, so whilst I can see the need to slow down - 3 miles? Could it be that the revenue from the cameras is paying for the bridge, or am I being cynical? In addition the narrow lanes suddenly widen out halfway through, only to narrow again. This causes people to speed up thinking they are coming out of the road works, only to see that there are more cameras ahead. More bottle necks. What slightly aggrieves me about this is a similar piece of work went on four years ago for a bridge between junctions 15 and 16, months of bottlenecks and for what? The bridge has never been finished and suddenly ends 2/3 of the way across.
The other works are worse. For some reason there is a 40 mph limit and again average speed cameras again for over 3 miles. In a month I have seen not a shred of evidence of any work being done whatsoever, and I do travel back and forwards during the day
What is the explanation for this - and why the 40 mph zone? Any explanation would be welcome.
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If I remember correctly the bridge near Swindon is being paid for by a developer to open up the surrounding land for housing.
The procedures would have all started long before 'The Crunch' though.
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As a daily M3 user (sufferer), it is with a mixture of amusement and annoyance that I learned they are digging it up yet again, just months after they finished the last lot, which in turn were months after the lot before, and the lot before that. It's an ongoing cycle of roadworks that goes back about three years, and never seems to finish, or with the exception of the acoustic barriers, achieve anything of note. They literally finish one bit and remove all the cones, and then a month or two later start preparing to do something else, and it seems to have been like it since the dawn of time.
Still, perhaps while they are there this time, they might get around to properly removing the narrow lane markers from the last set of works on the Southbound carriageway. Since these were finished, they've left a series of irritating ripples in the road right where the nearside tyres sit.
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So I presume these cameras are not live until the roadworks begin, and the variable signs are in position.
There were no cones out today. The link to the HA site was a bit vague. Is this work being done at night and lanes opened up during the day?
Edited by spood on 20/02/2009 at 22:04
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I am sure that i read that this 50mph limit had been so successful in promoting traffic flow during the roadworks, ("their words, not mine!") that it was going to be left in place indefinitely. I don't know if "they" are right, because i very rarely use this stretch in rush hour time (when traffic density possibly has the same effect anyway? )
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The 50 limit around J2 Southbound is staying, but it's been implemented together with a change in road layout, where the two lane stretch under the M25 filters into one lane (ultimately lane 2), and lane 1 is allocated to the traffic joining from the M25.
It really helps the traffic flow from the M25, at the expense of a Southbound queue on the M3 approaching junction 2 in rush hour as the motorway ultimately goes from three lanes to just one. (one becomes the slip road off onto the M25, and one now disappears). It's fair to say the M3 from J2-J1 is pretty quiet though, even in rush hour, but a 5-10 minute queue here isn't uncommon now.
In fairness, a 50 mph limit on the M3 would make precious little difference to me, as I struggle to get to 50 most of the time I travel on it. It's now that bad!
Cheers
DP
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