I've been working a contract back in my home town of Stoke for 2 weeks now. This evening was the 10th night that I have done the journey back home to Manchester. It was also the 6th night that the M6 has been closed at somepoint between J15 and J19.
I gave up using the M6 on the 3rd night, and use the A50 instead.
I've worked all over the North West over the past 5 years, and all of my contracts have required motorway driving. I have never known a stretch to have so many accidents.
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one word sums up the m6
pants
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I`m a firefighter who`s station`s rescue tender covers the M6 junc 10a-16, it is without doubt on the motorway nearly every day for one thing or another including yesterdays, 13th april, junc 15 incident.
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Hang on - what are we saying here?
Are the motorway sight lines worse than other motorways?
Are the off/on lanes shorter/more acute than other motorways?
Or is the standard of driving on the M6 worse than other motorways?
IMHO opinion the M1 between the M25 and A505 in both directions is a strong contender for worst motorway.
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M1 Sheffield to Leicester is the worst in my experience for jams and acidents.
At least the M6 was extensively rebuilt widened at critical points.M1 has that to come, with the new junction 29a etc.
I can even bypass the Manchester area using the new M60 eastern side (confusing signs for a country lad though).
Had a trouble free run to Edinburgh a few weeks ago. A doddle after the M1.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Was on the M6 this morning with no trouble, was busy but the only real problem i found was on the way back was an astra having had an argument with a lorry, that is the kind of thing that could happen on any motorway. so M6 not that bad just busy.
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Im a student ive got time!!!
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The M6 is a curate's egg.
Its very busy from Birmingham to Manchester (or now J11 to J19 since the M6 Toll) simply due to the sheer volume of traffic, high levels of HGV traffic in particular and an old design of motorway with some sharp bends, steep hills and therefore prone to accidents. Its remarkable how much easier it is to drive on teh m6 toll mainly because of very gradual bends, few steep hills and the ability to see far ahead of you so anticipation is easy.
North of the M55 (Blackpool) its a dream road and Manchester to Glasgow (230 miles) cam be done in far less time and with less stress than Manchester to London (200 miles).
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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North of the M55 (Blackpool) its a dream road and Manchester to Glasgow (230 miles) cam be done in far less time and with less stress than Manchester to London (200 miles).
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Moral for londoners:if you want to go to manchester, start from glasgow :-)
WTM
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I'm still in the honeymoon period of being able to drive south on the M6 over the Thelwell Viaduct without being stuck in a jam for anything up to an hour. I cannot describe the trepidation of leaving the M62, heading round the slip road only to see yet another row of stationary traffic, heading as far as the eye can see. The blight of my life and a significant contribution to my greying locks.
For those without a daily commute across the TV, spare a thought for us who had to endure 2 and a half years of repairs to roller bearings, resulting in a contraflow, narrow lanes and horrific traffic congestion.
I'm sure the best civil engineers were used but it seemed very strange that a 3rd world country could seem to repair its bridges within a matter of weeks after some natural catastrophe (floods, earthquakes) yet one of the central parts of our motorway network was allowed to grind to a halt for literally years.
It is also strange that there is a kerbed edge to the outside lane on the northbound bridge, which I would have thought would cause significant problems if hit by a car travelling at high speed and could cause a significant incident. Has anyone else noticed this and can anyone give me a reason why.
Still, at least there is the M6 Toll road!
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Well the matrix signs were displaying the "Think Don't Drink And Drive" notices this morning, so I thought I would check the excellent HIghways Agency site at www.highways.gov.uk/trafficinfo/ , and lo, it is reporting the exact same message!
Made me laugh.
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I haven't driven up that way for an age, is the work on the Viaduct now completed then?
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They were digging up the Thelwall viaduct when I was last up there in 1996. Did they really spend 9 years on that project or was there a short gap between adding the second bridge and ripping up the old one? And anyone want to lay odds on how long it'll be before they discover problems with the new bridge and close that?
When you look at the speed the Americans build roads you know there is definitely something afoot in the UK. For instance, does anyone remember how it took them from 92-96 to widen junctions 6-7 on the M25? A distance of a couple of miles? Where I live near Chicago they just widened one highway by up to two lanes in each direction in parts over a distance of several miles and it took them seven months.
And two other cases:
(1) a railway bridge in the South Suburbs of Chicago was totally destroyed by fire a couple of years ago. How long do you think it took them to put a new bridge up and get trains running again? A year? Nine months? How about six _days_. That's right - they had a new bridge up in less than a week.
(2) Yesterday morning a woman driving her SUV chatting on a cellphone drove around level crossing gates and was hit by an express train and tragically killed - her car was pushed half a mile by the impact. On the news they said "Trains were delayed by up to twenty minutes as a result"
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I had the misfortune to have to use the M6 every week for 3.5 years. I live just outside Manchester but got a contract on the outskirts on London. The M6 is just plain horrible. I used to set off at 5am to get to work for 9 (220 miles). I'd hit the M6 at 5:30am on a monday morning and already it would be 3 lanes of slow moving traffic. Just as my contract came to an end they opened the toll road.
I'd say it is the worst in the UK
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Is Thelwall open now? I gave up using the M6 simply on account of Thelwall (which the French would have done in a weekend -- well, more or less -- OK, OK . . .) and am out of touch with its progress.
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(2) Yesterday morning a woman driving her SUV chatting on a cellphone drove around level crossing gates and was hit by an express train and tragically killed - her car was pushed half a mile by the impact. On the news they said "Trains were delayed by up to twenty minutes as a result"
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Don't want to be offensive here, but in the above case, the only thing that would have been tragic in my view is if the stupidity of the woman in the SUV had caused fatalities amongst passengers on the train.
On the original subject - the M62 between Wakefield and Bradford is getting worse with every passing year. It is now one of the most predictable stretches of Motorway in the country - predictable in that you know you will be caught in the rush hour.
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You beat me to it..:-)
The M6 is a very long road and not confined merely to the outskirts of Birmingham as some would have us believe...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Several years ago I had to drive up from the South, to visit one of my employer's customers in Preston, Lancs.
The latter knew in advance the purpose of my visit: to announce a price rise for my company's product.
What date/time would be convenient Mr G?
He knew how to punish: "3 pm on Friday afternoon."
Following the meeting it took me 3 hours to get back just to Birmingham.
Oz (as was)
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>North of the M55 (Blackpool) its a dream road and Manchester to Glasgow (230 miles) cam be done in far less time and with less stress than Manchester to London (200 miles).
The only nasty thing on this stretch are some of the slip roads.
Especially Junction 34. AFAICR there is practically no sliproad at all. Possibly 10 car lengths at most!
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Been a while since I was using the birmingham stretch anywhere near go slow hour, But I remembered that the busiest day usually was sunday afternoon. Anyone care to tell me its changed? (sunday got better, I mean)
WTM
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I think you are all mistaken, according to a local West Country BBC channel, the M4 from Swindon to Bristol is know as Death Alley. This was their twist on reporting of the new speed cameras.
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the M4 from Swindon to Bristol is know as Death Alley.
By whom?
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The safety camera community
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The safety camera community
Who are not at all partial, of course. ;-)
Now, if it were the traffic plods covering the area, I might be more impressed. Oh, but there probably aren't any these days. Ah well.
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Now, if it were the traffic plods covering the area, I might be more impressed. Oh, but there probably aren't any these days. Ah well.
on the local news the other night a spokesman for Wiltshire police mentioned that motorway patrols wouldn't be reduced now that the mobile cameras were in place. Er, what motorway patrols?
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on the local news the other night a spokesman for Wiltshire police mentioned that motorway patrols wouldn't be reduced now that the mobile cameras were in place. Er, what motorway patrols?
You've got to admit, he wasn't lying. If there are none today, and next week there will still be none, they haven't been reduced.
It's the "new Britain", post 1997 definition of "telling the truth". Modernise, DD, modernise!
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Well, I saw one on Sunday evening along that bit, shortly followed by another on blues off home for his tea.
O
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Jaguar XJS V12 - comes with free personalised oil tanker.
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They built the second Thelwall Viaduct and itr was finished in about 1998. Just before the Commonwealth Games in Manchester they noticed the roller bearings were already failing. So we had another almost five years of contraflows, SPECS, and jams. The repairs took longer than the original build I think.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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