Coming back westbound from Dunstable the other day, i thought i caught sight of a 7.5 t weight limit as i toddled along the A505 & turned right onto the A5 in Dunstable town centre. At first i thought i must be imagining things as the A505 forms part of the Icknield Way which is so old that nobody knows where the name came from and people have been coming along it since before the invention of the wheel. The Romans trundled up Dunstable High Street along Watling Street, Thomas Telford upgraded it in 1815 and the newly formed Ministry of Transport numbered it the A5 in 1922 as one of the 6 main trunk roads in England which is, admittedly, longer than i’ve been using it - but only just. However, i looked it up on the interweb when i got home and found this:
Coincidentally, i was back there again the following evening and i took the opportunity to check it out and i have to say that it is either the most laid-back traffic scheme i have come across or a complete shambles and i have no idea which it is. Apart from the nebulous start date of ‘summer 2017’ the signage is so absolutely dreadful as to be non-existent. I mean - when is summer exactly? I seems to me to start sometime around May and finish around mid-september. Does that mean i am ok to use the old road until september? There is no prior warning about the weight limit approaching Dunstable from the M1 or Luton area and the first you will know of it is at the bridge before the A5 junction and if, like i was, you are in the inside lane doing 30mph, you will not have a chance to get across to turn onto Woodside road as legally required and if you do by some happy chance manage to find this so-called “Woodside Link Road” (after several wrong turns) the signage is so ■■■■■■■■ that there are two massive signs actually directing lorries to turn around and go back to Dunstable town centre.
Now, while it may be that there is some kind of ‘honeymoon period’ where some benevolent Dixon of Dock Green character will be standing outside the Sugar Loaf in Dunstable High Street dispensing kindly advice to lorry drivers like myself at 2am, it is also equally possible that they will switch on the ANPR cameras and start issuing penalty charges without warning. (I haven’t heard anything yet about my unfortunate transgression last week).
I thought i would post here to see if anyone on here knows whats going on because i don’t have a clue!
That half arsed set of lights at Woodside and Wheatfield Road junction causes stupid delays when more than three vehicles meet at the junction, and going from the M1 towards Porz Ave/Pointers Road you struggle like hell to join the roundabout due to the sheer volume of local traffic coming from Houghton Regis, helpfully there’s a serious incline trying to get onto the roundabout with a loaded lorry there so when everyone is using the new road the queues along the new Woodside link will be back to the motorway…and it blindingly obvious there’s thousand more houses going to go up alongside that new link road where they’ve put in roundabouts that don’t go anywhere yet.
I love the link you gave, they really believe that Woodside link is going to cope with the flow when the motorway is shut…hang on got to change me knickers just ■■■■■■ mesen
Could someone telephone our accidental Prime Minister and remind her of her promises (when Home Sec) to bring immigration down to the tens of thousands, anyone with half a brain can see the urban parts of the country are going to come to a grinding halt shortly, goodness knows what the roads will be like when another ten million souls have arrived
Whether there are ANPR cameras installed or not it is still an offence to enter a weight restricted road without good reason to do so (loading or unloading, access or diverted by police). To use the weight restricted road just because you have always used the route before restriction or its a bit quicker is not reason enough. If you are entering a weight restricted road for unloading or loading you must use the shortest route possible. Must agree with the op that the signage is poor.
James96:
I still take my artic though there and there is no anpr cameras
If you look carefully next time you do, you will see the mountings already in place where the cameras will be situated next to the weight limit signs. They are just before the bridge outside MacDonalds on the A505. I assume the cameras will be installed in due course. Personally, i would advise against taking a lorry through there & shall take my artic elsewhere. There is some useful information on the net about contravention of weight limits and this is pretty recent:
I went through Dunstable a few weeks ago and noticed some signs for the weight limit referring to the A5183…couldn’t work it out. So the road that everyone knows as the A5 is the A5 no more. Handy that…it’s my fault for not checking every county councils’ website to see what changes they’re making/ have made…I was wondering for a while if I was going to get a ticket but I seem to be in the clear. Going through Dunstable is bloody slow anyway at the best of times!
tidge65:
Whether there are ANPR cameras installed or not it is still an offence to enter a weight restricted road without good reason to do so
That was my understanding, but this quote leaves some room for doubt as to whether they are enforcing it at the moment:
Q; I’m still seeing lorries; why is this?
A: These changes aren’t going to happen over night and we are currently in the process off changing signs to let drivers know they can’t use the High Street. The signage is on course to be finished by the end of summer 2017. For more information visit our weight limits page.
(From the Central Bedfordshire website)
As has been said, the signage at the moment is really terrible. No ‘approved lorry route’ signs that i could see.
South beds council as it was known before have never liked road transport or anything associated with it. They seem to think that goods just miraculously appear on the shelves overnight. They are one of the worst councils in the country for wasting tax payers money on ludicrous road schemes that are not thought out or had proper consultation.
TiredAndEmotional:
I went through Dunstable a few weeks ago and noticed some signs for the weight limit referring to the A5183…couldn’t work it out. So the road that everyone knows as the A5 is the A5 no more.
It’s a question of money. De-trunking a road means that responsibility for maintenance passes from central government (Whitehall) to local government (Central Bedfordshire Council). So the local council will probably be looking for some extra cash to pay for it & charging unsuspecting lorry drivers £500 a time for the privilege of driving up Dunstable High Street would seem to be a good place to start.
tidge65:
South beds council as it was known before have never liked road transport or anything associated with it. They seem to think that goods just miraculously appear on the shelves overnight. They are one of the worst councils in the country for wasting tax payers money on ludicrous road schemes that are not thought out or had proper consultation.
It’s the shambolic nature of this that astonishes me. It seems to be being introduced piecemeal with no clear information in situ to the very people involved - the lorry driver. I wondered if i had missed some vital piece of information in the lead-up to being faced with it the other night but it would seem not and other people have been caught out just like me.
Once the new road off jcn11a is properly adopted, the weight limits around dunstabubble,and surrounding villages will be active, the first you will know is the signage will appear, so when the m1 grinds to a halt at jcn12 there will be no slipping of thro toddington or anyway around the delays. It’s an under-hand way to ban big smelly lorries, you wait till Cambridgeshire dc start, when the new A14 is nearing completion,
All councils are looking at banning hgv’s from as many roads as is possible, so they don’t have to strengthening bridges.
there’s a serious incline trying to get onto the roundabout with a loaded lorry there so when everyone is using the new road the queues along the new Woodside link will be back to the motorway…and it blindingly obvious there’s thousand more houses going to go up alongside that new link road where they’ve put in roundabouts that don’t go anywhere yet.