From "The Daily Telegraph", again:
tinyurl.com/y9lda56
A 10-mile stretch of the A5 between Daventry and Rugby.
The most dangerous trunk roads are:
A5 Daventry - Rugby (A428)
A46 Alcester ? M40 J15
A65* Long Preston ? M6 J36
A52 Bingham ? Grantham
A49 Hereford - Ross-on-Wye
A49 Leominster - Shrewsbury
A5 Bletchley ? Daventry
A46 Bingham ? Newark
A5 M1 J9 ? Bletchley
A64 York ? Scarborough
A120 Braintree ? Marks Tey
The article unfortunately says that "Research has also found that two thirds of single carriageway trunk roads are unsafe at the posted speed limit". This is rather a daft thing to say.
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I know the A120 very well. In fact I'm surprised the A12 isnt mentioned since the A120 leads to it. There are plenty of horrible short slip roads at Witham, Hatfield Peverel and Kelvedon which always seem to get a mention from 'Sally Traffic' due to a smash.
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I can't believe the A13 isn't listed, either.
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I know everyone is going to post their own "favourite" in this category, but I'm genuinely surprised that one in my area hasn't been mentioned.
Namely the A453 from south Nottingham to J24 of the M1. Always being closed for a few hours due to accidents. It's single carriageway and seems full of idiots who always want to overtake when t here isn't really any space.
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It depends on the criteria. In this case the article says -
"It looked at three key elements: the presence of protective barriers for motorists who ran off the road, the risk of head on collisions and the safety of junctions. "
That will give a different result to just considering accident statistics.
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I lived most of my life in Notts, Sid. The two on the list and the A453 have been major blackspots and bottlenecks for years. I remember my late father saying that they'd been on about making the A453 dual carriageway when I was a nipper and that's over 40 years ago!
I blame Nottinghamshire County Council for dragging their heels on this one. As you well know the A46 from Newark to Lincoln was doubled some years ago, now a much better road. Go into Leicestershire and it's been DC for as long as I can remember. And why they built Newark by-pass as a single carriageway is beyond me!
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There are plenty of horrible slip roads at Witham, Hatfield Peverel and Kelvedon
The slip roads between Hatfield Peverel and Witham have been re-designed and they are constructing them at this very moment after many years of fatalities. Driving the wrong way up the A12 at the Hatfield Peverel end was a very easy mistake to make if you were new to the area, especially at night. Just one no entry sign between you and a surefire accident.
The A12 would be OK if people didn't drive so fast and so close to each other during rush hour.
Edited by corax on 27/01/2010 at 21:02
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This is rather a daft thing to say.
There is an agenda to get the speed limit on single carriageway A roads reduced to 50MPH.
Edited by Bill Payer on 27/01/2010 at 14:29
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"Best Road to Find Inattentive Drivers" :-P
Seems Daventry is the place to be (or not).
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"Best Road to Find Inattentive Drivers" :-P Seems Daventry is the place to be (or not).
Wonder if this has anything to do with the large number of transport depots in the area?
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Seems Daventry is the place to be (or not).
Not clear why Daventry appears twice as the table effectively includes a long stretch of the A5 from Bletchley to Dav, then refers to the A5/A428 to Rugby. Not sure whether the northern bit means the A5 towards Rugby via Gibbet Cross and the A426, which is A5(A428) round the DIRFT logisitcs park or the direct route to Rugby keeping with the 428 after DIRFT/Rugby Radio. Neither bit strikes me as presenting anything like the dangers of the A65 from Skipton to the M6.
From Bletchley on the A5 there is a long near M/way standard section round MK to Stony Stratford which should be safe as houses. After that it's single carriageway NSL but with occasional drops to 50 or event 30 through Weedon. But it's on a mostly Roman alignment with good sightlines and relatively few junctions. It has however the primary diversion for the M1 over various stretches from J20 down to 13/14 and it can be pretty hairy when the M/way is disrupted.
Edited by Webmaster on 28/01/2010 at 00:48
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There is an agenda to get the speed limit on single carriageway A roads reduced to 50MPH.
Yep, and it's already in progress.
The government have said that there is no intention to lower the national speed limit, which is just weasel words.
Instead, they have asked all councils to review local speed limits, which includes advice to lower the speed limits of many currently NSL roads.
See Warwickshire for an early example of this, where not even the Police supported the changes.
Edited by TheOilBurner on 27/01/2010 at 14:46
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I can see why the A64 from Scarborough to York is classed as such - plenty of scope for inappropriate speed and some silly overtakes - ind you I rode it last summer and enjoyed it - but LGVs travelling close together made it a dodgy proposition - an enjoyable but not relaxing ride......and I got soaked in a thunderstorm on the way back to Harrogate...:-9
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I can see why the A64 from Scarborough to York is classed as such - an enjoyable but not relaxing ride......
Ample alternatives with more pleasant driving/riding if time is not of the essence.
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We have a section of what was previously NSL now reduced to 50. I have to admit that I tend to er, make my own progress. Anyway, does anyone know whether the local authority has to consult with anyone, or whether some set criteria must apply before making the new limit? I think we can expect more of these and wondered if any effective challenge can be mounted before the change takes place. Anyone know??
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This is a proper consultation process that has to be followed where objections can be raised, however, residents living on said roads are given more prominence to their views than actual users of the road. Accident statistics often don't even come into it.
Google "objections Warwickshire speed limit review" to find out more.
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The A66 immediatly springs to my mind. But i can't believe that the 1079 Hull-york isnt on, very dangerous so dangerous it is to be upgraded due to number of accidents.
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I realise that some will think that this is pedantic, but . . . .
The Road Safety Foundation's report, Protect and Survive, to which the Telegraph article refers, is subtitled "Star Rating England's Trunk Road Network for Safety," and deals with roads in England - whereas the Telegraph article refers to Britain's 'most dangerous' trunk road.
To be fair, the text of the RSF report itself is pretty vague, and there are places where it refers to 'Britain' and 'British', but one wonders whether it actually meant 'England' and 'English'.
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A1079 may not be a trunk road - i.e. responsibility for upkeep is with the Highways Agency and not the Local Authorities the road passes through.
I can believe the A65 and A64. There should have been a programme to make all trunk roads dual carriageways years ago.
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The A64 is particularly bad as it mixes unimproved sections with short to medium length stretches of dual. The A66 between M6 and Keswick is even worse on that count aas the penny pinchers built one new well aligned carriageway and left the old road with twists. tirns and drystone boundary walls for the westbound traffic.
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i live half way between leominster and hereford , so thats both ways id better be careful :)
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Is the A30 to Cornwall classed as a trunk road. There are a few sections that if made to dual carriegway would improve this road no end.
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Why the * against the A65? Is it because it goes past my house?
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Why the * against the A65? Is it because it goes past my house?
Are you a long time resident of the area legacylad?
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Yes. I have lived on the outskirts of Settle nigh on 10 years, travelling the A65 6 days a week to/from work. Prior to that I have used the A65 most weekends to travel up to the Lakes/Dales from Bingley for some 30+ years. I remember Skipton & Settle before the bypasses were built and Buckhaw Brow before it became less steep!
Having a go at my driving skills matey?
Edited by legacylad on 28/01/2010 at 22:42
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>>Having a go at my driving skills matey?
Wouldn't dream of it!
No, I was thinking that if you had lived there during the 70s and 80s, you would undoubtedly have seen, heard, and been stuck behind my father's trucks on their way to and from the roadstone quarries in and around Skipton, Settle, Horton, and Ingleton. You would have avoided them at the weekend.
I well remember the Ministry of Transport lurking at the top of Buckhaw Brow waiting to pull trucks over that were blowing a bit of smoke.
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I really like the A5 as it happens and will normally use it instead of the M1 on that stretch. Jacks Hill cafe at Towcester is a much better breakfast stop than Watford Gap services. It's not as fast as it was when it had the suicide lane though.
Can't see what's especially dangerous about it, other than the fact that it has a lot of minor roads joining and crossing.
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I really like the A5 . Can't see what's especially dangerous about it other than the fact that it has a lot of minor roads joining and crossing.
You may be onto something there about minor roads, then add speeding lorries. After posting last night I had an almost near miss
Joining the A5 from a minor road there was a well lit truck perhaps 300m away. I started to move then realised he was going far faster than I had anticipated. No drama, I just let him pass and even if I'd gone the Xantia would have had enough poke to save him more than medium braking, but following to Weedon he didn't fall below 60.
A well known national parcel carrier.
Edited by Bromptonaut on 28/01/2010 at 21:40
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>>A well known national parcel carrier
I was tailgated in the snow a couple of weeks ago by a "big green parcel machine" who took the same snow covered short cut as I did to bypass a jam. The difference was I knew where I was going and that I wasn't going to get stuck.
I guess he was trying to keep it moving. When I came to a roundabout on a hill and stopped, he went the wrong side of a pedestrian refuge to overtake, and now on the wrong side of the road went round the roundabout the wrong way causing the traffic to stop. I was laughing too much to think about getting road rage!
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