All the millions getting spent on the upgrade from Scotch Corner to Leeming would have surely been better spent upgrading the bit from the chimneys (Ferrybridge) to RedHouse, (Donny by-pass). Always hold-ups down there. Never as much bother up this end.
That would involve joined - up thinking;
something the politicians aint too good at…
According to DfT A1 Ferrybridge to Red House 65,000 vehicles a day & a high % of HGVs. Only other busier (non urban) dual I can think of is probably A14 Huntingdon to Cambridge at 85,000. The A74M a 3 lane motorway for instance handles only 33,000!
I agree, the road from ferry bridge down to the m18 is indeed prime for an upgrade…
However, who has been shouting the loudest?
For donkeys years they have been shouting for a full motorway connection to the north east… Like, wee need a motorway connection between London and Newcastle!
Thing is at the moment the A1M stops at Washington! Its a good few miles short of Newcastle with the slowest road in the world after it, the western bypass, which is currently undergoing an inch by inch upgrade to 3 lanes.
And, take a little look and there is plans afoot to make the A1 from Scotch Corner 3 lanes all the way to just past the metro centre… So years and years of misery to come…
Looking at the Leeming upgrade I often wonder if they know what they doing. They building a new road as its being realigned, what the hell is taking so long? They should be using box scrapers to shift and level the thing out instead of excavators and trucks with the occasional dozer… I don’t know…
That stretch is already two lanes plus a hard shoulder and last time I went up there, wasn’t all that congested. I guess it doesn’t look good on a map having a stretch of dual carriageway in the middle of a motorway but that’s really all that’s in it. They can widen it a bit so it’s like the A3 at Esher, three lanes plus hard shoulder, and avoid needing a service road as the A1(M) further south does. And when they put the truck speed limit up, the “problem” of slow trucks will be solved as well.
How many times do I need to say this?
We don’t need better roads, just less people! Bring on the cull, I’'m more than happy to rid this country of the useless elements of society.
But who then would deliver the goods to the shops ? 