Anyone else driven mad by the incredible increase in these things in the middle of straight roads. Just as the road straightens out a whole line of the things have sprouted making everyone travel in convoy at the speed of the slowest.In combination with speed cameras it appears that overtaking is seen as anti social behaviour and to be prevented. Perhaps they will bring in the modern equivalent of a man with a red flag in front of cars. Come to think of it they have - speed cameras.
Cheers
Peter
|
|
Lots popped up on the A5 between Weedon and Milton Keynes over the last 20 years, along with hatched areas protecting right turns. Most are justified traffic calming in villages or at accident black spots.
|
|
|
It depends on where the islands are situated - in some instances it can prove a boon for motorists on minor roads who wouldn't be able to make progress without taking risks.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
|
|
Not to mention the fattening of pedestrian refuges, so called, always a threat to the offside tyres and these days an actual hazard... as if specifically intended to make drivers swerve about nervously, great, just what we likw, well done.
|
Local to me they have just done something (to me) daft.
They have just placed an island in the middle of the road next to a bus stop. So when a bus pulls up traffic must wait behind it.
This is on an out of town road, that would have enough room to allow vehicles to overtake even with oncomming traffic.
|
They have just placed an island in the middle of the road next to a bus stop. So when a bus pulls up traffic must wait behind it.
We have quite a few of these on our main roads through the town. When I tackled a councillor about this stupidity he told me that it was quite intentional! The theory is that the motorist will eventually, by continually waiting behind a bus, be educated into realising that it is no quicker for him to be in a car rather than on the bus and will therefore leave his car at home and get on a bus. I was amazed that not only does someone actually believe this, he did manage to say it without laughing, so it must be true, but people have even re-elected him since he said it.
Another aspect to the growth of these islands is that traffic now has to queue behind a cyclist because there is insufficient room to overtake which then tempts people to overtake cyclists where they shouldn't and hence put the cyclist at risk. This in turn is 'encouraging' cyclists off the road and on to the pavement.
On top of this emergency vehicles now tend to use the back streets more as they are impeded from making progress, previously they just to drive down the middle of the road they are now faced with one impassable concrete object after another.
Eventually some planner somewhere will realise that even small changes have an effect and for every effect there is a cause and maybe, just maybe, we will be able to return to a sane world where the consequences are carefully weighed up.
Cockle
|
|
It's a shame, when John Prescott announced plans for £2Bn of road improvements a few years ago, he didn't tell the truth and inform people that the councils would have to bid for it for Marxist road-ruining projects. All councils (regardless of who runs them) ruin the roads to keep themselves in business.
|
|
|
|
