which pen pushing desk jockey decided to close 3 lanes of one of the busiest stretches of the track last night.!!! - turning 6 lanes into one.!
Jeez - 2 hours to get through, to find a couple of blokes painting some lines.
Hard shoulder littered with drivers who had run out of time
absolute grade A stupid decision
ahhhhhhh, and breath - i feel better now 
The lines dont paint themselves and need redoing every so often. They are done when the traffic is allegedly at its lightest to minimise disruption. 
Hard shoulder littered with drivers who had run out of time
Is that a safe place to stop then? Surely should have deviated from the rules in order to get to a place of safety? If there was any prior warning, then this ceases to be an “emergency” and no deviation would be permitted. But I don’t know if there was any publicity/warning on this occasion.
I left Fort Dunlop to make a 20 mile journey to Bermuda park Nuneaton with an hour and 30 mins driving time left for a 30 min journey. It took me 2 hours.
The matrix signs did warn of congestion but I chose to ignore them as they,ve been doing this work all week and each night I’ve had a hold up of about 10 mins at worst. At about midnight each night.
So I certainly didn’t expect that chaos.
I got back and did a printout and wrote down the reason for going over hours. I don’t make a habit of it and felt it was justified.
If it ain’t, well I’ll just have to fall on my sword.
And how many times have you had the matrix flashing and nothing there 8/10 
nick2008:
And how many times have you had the matrix flashing and nothing there 8/10
Well, exactly.
Th M5 was like that last week. Come down off the M6 see ONE matrix saying something about the M5 J4 to 4a then all the rest of the matrix signs had info on the M42/M40. That is right up until half a mile from J4 when it says the M5 south is closed from J4. Come around a bend and find a truck swerving to avoid the snake and going into lane 2 so I follow him. A good mile of traffic sat in the inside lane with the outside 2 empty ! This was about 22.20 thursday night. Led to a nice troll around onto the M42 and off at Hopwood, U-turn to go south and back on the M5. I got back home with 5 minutes to spare out of my 4:30. If I’d of known on the way up I would have gone east on the M6 then straight down the M42 to 4a. (from electric ave).
the good old matrix signs on the m6 south between j4 and 3 this morning said que caution and 40mph… this as the roadworks were been set up and they was no que!!!
also notice on a bank holiday if you work it the signs at j21a m6… always show heavy traffic and congestion!! at about 7-30am… intresting its normally clear on bank holidays now how many more signs are set to display a message which isnt valid?? and almost cert on a auto program 
dazaster:
the good old matrix signs on the m6 south between j4 and 3 this morning said que caution and 40mph… this as the roadworks were been set up and they was no que!!!
also notice on a bank holiday if you work it the signs at j21a m6… always show heavy traffic and congestion!! at about 7-30am… intresting its normally clear on bank holidays now how many more signs are set to display a message which isnt valid?? and almost cert on a auto program
Matrix signs are just a total steaming pile of greenhouse gas emitting crap, that we have all paid for. They always have been since they were fist installed (in the 50s I think). The new ones are just Bigger & display more BS.
They are a pet hate of mine. The annoying thing is they could be useful if the highways agency or whoever controls them made them display accurate & useful information. Sadly however as this thread indicates, I’m also of the opinion that the highway agency is run by a bunch of halfwitted selfimportant berks, who have an interdepartmental completion of who can use the most flashing lights in any given situation.
I bet they even wear personal flashing lightbars on their heads when in the office (along with hi-viz jackets natch) just in case they might bump into each other in the Gents.
Secretelephant:
I bet they even wear personal flashing lightbars on their heads when in the office (along with hi-viz jackets natch) just in case they might bump into each other in the Gents.
Saucer of milk for secretelephant!! 
The Highway Man:
Secretelephant:
I bet they even wear personal flashing lightbars on their heads when in the office (along with hi-viz jackets natch) just in case they might bump into each other in the Gents.Saucer of milk for secretelephant!!
Don’t you ■■■■■about road users who make your job harder for no apparent reason
Left Birminghaml to return to manchester a journey that should take 2hr 10 ish took 3hr 40min…M6 lane closure m62 entry slip@21a closed…m62 1lane and M60 3lanes closed…Nightmare.This meant I didnt have enough driving time to do my 2nd trip so I did it this morning and what happened…Accident between 20 and 19 another 3-5hr trip to Birmingham…Aargh the joys of driving…Would we have it any other way…■■? 
Okey-Didley-Dokely:
Don’t you ■■■■■about road users who make your job harder for no apparent reason
Maybe, but for all the time I’ve spent on here, do you see me calling the whole of the transport industry for the failings of one person? My reply to secretelephant was said very much in jest hence the blowing a raspberry smiley. His comment was quite scathing to the whole of the HA and took the mick out of on road traffic officers who have no say in road works or setting of signs. I know that delays can be annoying and irritating, we use the motorways and get stuck in the traffic jams as well.
The Highway Man:
Okey-Didley-Dokely:
Don’t you ■■■■■about road users who make your job harder for no apparent reasonMaybe, but for all the time I’ve spent on here, do you see me calling the whole of the transport industry for the failings of one person? My reply to secretelephant was said very much in jest hence the blowing a raspberry smiley. His comment was quite scathing to the whole of the HA and took the mick out of on road traffic officers who have no say in road works or setting of signs. I know that delays can be annoying and irritating, we use the motorways and get stuck in the traffic jams as well.
He never once mentioned traffic officers, he took the urine out of the highways agency, which to tell the truth is a big joke.
They couldn’t organise a ■■■■up in a brewery.
Take 2 weeks ago for instance, the A1, a major roue down to the ferry ports from the north. From Scotland it takes 8 3/4 hours to folkestone so time is critical, especially guys who carry the fish down to Boulogne.
It can be done in a 10 hour shift. In the same night they 2 closures on the road, one in yorkshire and one on the Lincs, cambridge border, both had diversions on single carraigewaysof aboutt 10/15 miles long.
Now we know closures are inevitaable, but 2 on the same trunk road in the same night. Bit daft if you ask me.
Then what people say about marix signs is true, 9/10 times the information is irrelevant or out of date.
Peter Smythe:
Hard shoulder littered with drivers who had run out of time
Is that a safe place to stop then? Surely should have deviated from the rules in order to get to a place of safety? If there was any prior warning, then this ceases to be an “emergency” and no deviation would be permitted. But I don’t know if there was any publicity/warning on this occasion.
i joined the m42 at junction 9…followed my usual route…to join the m6…the first warning i had was a matrix showing delays 4 to 3…after i was commited to that route!!!m42 was closed off.■■?
took 2 hours to get through the roadworks?
xamtex:
Peter Smythe:
Hard shoulder littered with drivers who had run out of time
Is that a safe place to stop then? Surely should have deviated from the rules in order to get to a place of safety? If there was any prior warning, then this ceases to be an “emergency” and no deviation would be permitted. But I don’t know if there was any publicity/warning on this occasion.
i joined the m42 at junction 9…followed my usual route…to join the m6…the first warning i had was a matrix showing delays 4 to 3…after i was commited to that route!!!m42 was closed off.■■?
took 2 hours to get through the roadworks?
This happened to me and my mate, had to do a rescue and complete his route around notts, went to Burton to fetch him only to find the truck now fixed. Ran back in company down the 42, matrix signs warning of M42 being closed and closures on the M5 but nothing until we passed the closed off 42 and then it said QUEUE and then bang, choas. Took us near on three hours to get through it and we both ran out of time.
Call me a cynical grumpy old man but …
… I think they dont let you know in time to make a diversion because that’ll just clog up the other alternative routes & cause more congestion. They can CONTROL you more if they keep you penned in behind their miles & miles of empty coned off 'roadworks 
Oh, and they just cone off various lanes for miles & miles at a time, all over the Country, just so you don’t wear out the tarmac!
Someone did tell me once that once tarmac is laid it has to be left to harden for a certain amount of time before traffic is allowed on it, hence the miles of coned of road with nothing being done. The annoying thing was that if not for another set of roadworks on the A361 we would have gone A444-A5 anyway but went down the M6 thinking to cut down the A46 and go the back way to the depot (A45/M45). Had some desk jockey bothered to put a sign up that said M6 J4-J3 long delays we would have got off the 42 and gone down the A5 and through Nuneaton on the A444 to get to the A46. Grrrrrr.
Hi all, I work in one of the highways agencies motorway control rooms, and I can explain why there sometimes is nothing there as I am one of those persons that now-a-days sets these signs & signals.
When we get a call from anyone, often via the police because someones phoned in on 999, we MUST set some sort of warning signs.
If the call has come from a member of the public (MOP) and we cannot confirm that the problem, obstruction, accident acutally exists at the location given, we set 50 mph on the signs.
Unfortunately, most people have no idea whereabouts they are on the motorway, they know which junction they’ve got on at, and they know which junction they will be getting off at, but anywhere inbetween will usually be a stab in the dark.
If on the other hand, the call comes from a “reliable source” ie. Police or HATO officer, a recovery agent, Highways Agency contractor, or seen on CCTV, then that is classed as confirmed, and we set whatever is required, eg. lane closures or more severe speeds.
If a MOP calls in from an emergency roadside telephone (ERT) and they can actually see the incident from where they are at the phone, we can set speeds down to 30 mph just prior to the scene.(not lane closures)
**NOTE; if you call in from an ERT we know exactly where that phone is, so will know exactly where any problem is. (ERT phones are free, and come directly into the Highways Agency Control Rooms, and are answered within 20 secs)
Once a patrol (police or HATO) gets to the scene the incident is quickly assessed, then all sorts of things can happen, including the update of the signals, either more severe, or cleared.
ALL signals are only cleared on the say-so of either Police/HATO patrol at scene, no-one else can give that authority, so any reports must be checked before signals can be cleared.
As you can see, it’s much more exact if a MOP calls in from an ERT, rather than calling 999 on your mobile. you will also speak to someone in a motorway control room, who knows about the motorways and the locations, whereas with 999, often you’ll speak to a police call taker who probably knows nothing about motorways, and doesn’t know just what questions to ask you. (no disrespect to them)
People sometimes stop in the live lanes for the most crazyiest of reasons! This is then called in by good citizens, the next thing, the muppet who stopped, realises the wisdom of his ways, and drives off, unless we see them drive off, we are waiting for a patrol to check the area, meanwhile we have signals set as we don’t know that it’s cleared the scene.
You just wouldn’t believe the things that are “dropped” on the c/way requiring intial signals set at 50’s until confirmed with the patrol etc.
how about:…
a complete single bed, a settee, garden shed, garden fish pond (the plastic bit that you sink into a hole) Ladders (regularly, even Trumpton has lost a set in our area once!)) bags of cement, paveing stones, full HGV wheels (HGV tyre bits are many times a day), car spare wheels, push bikes still attached to the roof-rack, top-boxes, suit cases, flat-pack furniture, in fact anything and everything, so if you see 50’s (debris) be aware, slow down, drop back and leave a good bit of room between the car in front and yourself, watch in case he swerves for anything, but most of all, be prepared for anything.
… …
Roadworks are a little different, the signals are set when the foreman of the roadworks “gang” asks for them, they then start to put out the large “hard signage” (ie, the yellow signs showing which lanes are closed) once he has those in place, and has coned off the lanes that they are closing to work in, he calls for the matrix signals to be cleared.
When they are ready to remove the roadworks, he calls for the matrix to be reset.
Then when all the lane closure cones, and the hard signage have been removed, he calls for the matrix to be cleared once more.
… …
We are measured for how quick the signals are set once we are told of something, and we are also measured how quick they are cleared once instructed by a HATO or police patrol.
The signalling system is a computer system, now and again the odd signal won’t go off and the engineer has to go out to fix it, but that is a very seldom. you will only see just one signal on it’s own when this happens.
The police are now actively booking people who go through lane closures, so beware! don’t do it.
(Note: this has been “copy-pasted” from a post that I made on another website)
I can also tell you that anything that says “queue slow” or “queue Caution” in fact any sign that says “queue” on it, has been set automatically.
As you drive down the c/way, you’ll see “squares” in each lane, there’ll be a pair of them close together, they look like the sunken wires just in front of traffic lights. These are similar, they acutally monitor the average speed of traffic in the lanes, and the number of vehicles passing over them, if the speed drops below a certain figure, they activate the VMS (Variable Message Sign) to show “queue” in one way or another. The system automatically checks each site every 3 - 4 minutes, and if the average speed has picked up and shows that vehicles are driving over them, then it switches the signs off. They can be fooled when a slow HGV goes over, ie an Ab load or crane etc.
The “10 miles in 9 minutes” signs, are also automatic, there are camera’s, similar to the ANRP camera’s that “read” a batch of numberplates, the next set of camera look for these numberplates, and work out the time taken (they won’t post a time that makes it faster than 70 mph)
Planned roadworks can be checked on the Highways Agency website (mostly!) and usually have to be a minimum of 5k between them, unless they are “emergency roadworks” (often due to an incident that day, where work needs to be done ASAP) these can be a minimum of 2.5k apart.
…
The accident on the M6 J20/19 the other morning was a serious one, with a young boy getting badly hurt, so the police accident investigation unit had to do their stuff on that.
The accident J33/32 the day after, required a person to be cut free from the vehicle and air-lifted to hospital, again accident investigation was required.
Also the on on the M65 on monday, was “likely to prove” (v serious!) accident investigation again.
I’ve never seen accident investigation take less than 3 hours, so if you hear of a serious accident, you can work it out how long it will take as a minimum! Anything that affects the flow of traffic on the c/way expected to last for more than 15 mins, ie lane closures etc. is reported to the NTCC. who then send out the information to all the local radio stations and media outlets. So listen to the Traffic Anouncements.
Note also, the Police are in charge of ALL injury accidents, HATO will do the traffic management to assist, allowing the police to concentrate on the actual incident.
The Highways Agency work closely with the other Emergency services at the scene of accidents, each service being responsible for a particular “part” of the incident.
when there is a motorway closure, most of the local councils DON’T want the motorway traffic flowing along their ordinary roads, the Highways Agency is presently working with councils etc to agree on diversion routes should traffic need to be sent off the motorway, you’ll see the little yellow “squares” “triangles” “circles” etc on roadsigns, that what these will be used for, we’re nearly ready to use them.
One other thing, IF THE SIGNALS ARE INCORRECT, Call the HA information number and complain, I do!!
I was going down to Dover the other week going on holiday, when the signals at a roadworks were so wrong, I phoned in and told them!
All complaints have to be investigated and answered by a manager, they are also recorded & monitored to see if there is a common problem etc.
Biffo, I can completely understand why you see signs warning you of stuff that isn’t there. What is unforgivable in my opinion was that the traffic had been there for some time and there was no warning of it on the matrix signs that would have enabled us to leave the motorway and take an alternative route. I had TA switched on on my radio and didn’t get one announcement in all the time I sat in the traffic. Initially we thought there had been a FATAC and the motorway was closed.