Fucking Traffic

[Chewing Grass]

As there isn't on I thought I'd start one as I think Traffic Congestion is a sign of a healthy economy and the levels of congestion or bizziness thereof seem to be lacking on all but the most trunky roads.

I'd go as far as saying that congestion is a fraction of what it was 5 years ago thus making new road building totally irrelevant along with smart motorways.

Even on my commute, same times every day there are never usually more than a handful of cars in front at any junction at 4:30pm.

The economy (other than government printy spending) is in reality in the last chance saloon.

[Frank Hovis]

It has become absolutely ridiculously busy in Cornwall from May to October and isn't really quiet in winter any more.

I would say that this started to happen maybe 2017 and rose hugely during Covid when lockdowns were lifted in the summer.

I'm moving to where you live.

[Chewing Grass]

1 minute ago, Frank Hovis said:

It has become absolutely ridiculously busy in Cornwall from May to October and isn't really quiet in winter any more.

I would say that this started to happen maybe 2017 and rose hugely during Covid when lockdowns were lifted in the summer.

I'm moving to where you live.

Its the flatlands of Northern England, completely lacking in rugged character, no nice beaches and full of indebted commuters. They work - go home - watch TV - go work.

[Phil]

On 08/07/2023 at 16:48, Chewing Grass said:

Its the flatlands of Northern England, completely lacking in rugged character, no nice beaches and full of indebted commuters. They work - go home - watch TV - go work.

Birmingham has got worse. 24 mile journey can take 2 hrs when busy. Best time 1 hr. 

[Phil]

1 hr when teachers are on strike, kid’s holidays. 2 hrs + when train strikes hit.

[onlyme]

On 08/07/2023 at 16:45, Frank Hovis said:

It has become absolutely ridiculously busy in Cornwall from May to October and isn't really quiet in winter any more.

I would say that this started to happen maybe 2017 and rose hugely during Covid when lockdowns were lifted in the summer.

I'm moving to where you live.

Client and friends bookings holding up well, I have a feeeling Conwall might buck the recessionary trend that is  going to engulf a lot of the UK, there's some positives to this, some local towns here are falling to bits (or shoudl I say further to bits). People want to be out on your linb as far away from major cities as bloody possible.

[reformed nice guy]

Tomtom used to give graphs and stats comparing traffic over the past 10 years but it looks to be subscription only now

This website seems to do similar but doesnt look as good

https://trafficindex.org/london/

edit to add: its actually utter shite. the monthly graph shows the same no matter the city. Ignore!

Edited July 9, 2023 by reformed nice guy

[Loki]

On 08/07/2023 at 15:21, Chewing Grass said:

As there isn't on I thought I'd start one as I think Traffic Congestion is a sign of a healthy economy and the levels of congestion or bizziness thereof seem to be lacking on all but the most trunky roads.

I'd go as far as saying that congestion is a fraction of what it was 5 years ago thus making new road building totally irrelevant along with smart motorways.

Even on my commute, same times every day there are never usually more than a handful of cars in front at any junction at 4:30pm.

The economy (other than government printy spending) is in reality in the last chance saloon.

Every now and then I mention it.  Some people might remember.  I think the last time I concluded crack up boom I've seen no let up in traffic volumes and delays

[F150]

Traffic is exponential and usually the difference between free flowing traffic and complete gridlock near a large junction is 1 or 2 extra cars arriving per minute

Edited July 10, 2023 by F150

[spunko]

I can't say I agree, traffic is worse here than it has ever been. London in particular gets worse every time I go there. Took me 1.5 hours to drive 7 miles the other day in Croydon.

The only respite is when the schools break up. I miss the days of Covid sometimes.

[Bear Hug]

1 hour ago, spunko said:

I can't say I agree, traffic is worse here than it has ever been. London in particular gets worse every time I go there. Took me 1.5 hours to drive 7 miles the other day in Croydon.

The only respite is when the schools break up. I miss the days of Covid sometimes.

It feels like London's roads are designed to be slow. I drive from Reading to the Isle of Dogs occasinally: there are only 2 options presented by Google maps: right through the centre: Westminster, harrods, etc, or a massive loop around M25. Both ways are about 2 hours. Of course I take the shorter slow one to save fuel. It's just hard to believe that there is no middle ground, no straight road that doesn't go through all the touristy areas. 

[AWW]

I see traffic congestion as a sign of how lazy we are getting as a nation and how much time some people have on their hands.

Take the school run. We do it on a bike because the traffic is a joke. An hour round trip by car when we've absolutely had to do it takes less than twenty minutes on a bike. BUT... the maximum distance offered has been between 0.6 and 1.2 miles for the last few years (north London, reasonably good school). It's not even oversubscribed, so it's not like people are moving close to get their kids in, then moving away. The vast majority live within half a mile. Yet lots of them drive, particularly if it's raining, even though it would be quicker to walk.

[Wight Flight]

1 hour ago, AWW said:

I see traffic congestion as a sign of how lazy we are getting as a nation and how much time some people have on their hands.

Take the school run. We do it on a bike because the traffic is a joke. An hour round trip by car when we've absolutely had to do it takes less than twenty minutes on a bike. BUT... the maximum distance offered has been between 0.6 and 1.2 miles for the last few years (north London, reasonably good school). It's not even oversubscribed, so it's not like people are moving close to get their kids in, then moving away. The vast majority live within half a mile. Yet lots of them drive, particularly if it's raining, even though it would be quicker to walk.

My school had a strictly enforced rule. 0.5 miles you had to walk. 0.5 to 5 miles you could cycle. Over that you could be driven. Nobody wanted to be seen getting driven. It was embarrassing.

[Chewing Grass]

Cops chase a Black BMW from a Junction on the Motorway to the intersection of 2 Motorways then close 3 lanes while they deal with the pulled over vehicle (presume nutters or ideological fanatics) at 3:30pm. Resulting traffic chaos from still closed road has caused over a dozen crashes and horrendously  gridlocked the local area.

Still fucking closed 2 hours later...

It has now been confirmed that this followed a police pursuit of a BMW that was followed from Warrington, onto the M56 and then the M6 where it was eventually stopped by officers. A man from Manchester has been arrested.

Chances are he is not genetically from Manchester.

What price is this shit costing us.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/breaking-m6-closed-emergency-services-28069862

Edit: Seems its a Volvo so perhaps Mossad...

Edited November 8, 2023 by Chewing Grass

[sarahbell]

This was the BMW story 
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/remarkable-footage-shows-moment-police-28071081

Edited November 9, 2023 by sarahbell

[Chewing Grass]

20 minutes ago, sarahbell said:

This was the BMW story 
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/remarkable-footage-shows-moment-police-28071081

Aah, Volvo was the unmarked rozzermobile.

[UmBongo]

On 12/07/2023 at 18:31, Wight Flight said:

Nobody wanted to be seen getting driven. It was embarrassing.

That's how I felt when my parents owned a 1980 Talbot Horizon. 

[Pip321]

Our town has less cars on the road but literally 20/30 traffic works going on at any time, obviously with no one actually working on them. Yorkshire water, gas companies, electric cables, telecoms and often you take a route to avoid only to be met with another set of temporary lights. It’s been like this for 2 years…..probably double the level of road and path works that prior to covid. 

Genuinely makes me feel they are ensuring the roads seem busy so we don’t use cars….or vote for th3 bypass the council has tried to get for the last 40 years..🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[One percent]

2 minutes ago, Pip321 said:

Our town has less cars on the road but literally 20/30 traffic works going on at any time, obviously with no one actually working on them. Yorkshire water, gas companies, electric cables, telecoms and often you take a route to avoid only to be met with another set of temporary lights. It’s been like this for 2 years…..probably double the level of road and path works that prior to covid. 

Genuinely makes me feel they are ensuring the roads seem busy so we don’t use cars….or vote for th3 bypass the council has tried to get for the last 40 years..🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

This is quite helpful 

https://one.network

[ILikeCake]

7 hours ago, Pip321 said:

Our town has less cars on the road but literally 20/30 traffic works going on at any time, obviously with no one actually working on them. Yorkshire water, gas companies, electric cables, telecoms and often you take a route to avoid only to be met with another set of temporary lights. It’s been like this for 2 years…..probably double the level of road and path works that prior to covid. 

Genuinely makes me feel they are ensuring the roads seem busy so we don’t use cars….or vote for th3 bypass the council has tried to get for the last 40 years..🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

Same where I live.  I think a lot of it is just down to our infrastructure falling apart.  There's also a lot of gas mains and water mains going in everywhere due to all the new housing estates popping up.

[Chewing Grass]

1 minute ago, ILikeCake said:

Same where I live.  I think a lot of it is just down to our infrastructure falling apart.  There's also a lot of gas mains and water mains going in everywhere due to all the new housing estates popping up.

The 1950s/60s housing areas near me are all having gas mains replaced.

Everything is getting Entropy expired.

[The Grey Man]

32 minutes ago, Chewing Grass said:

The 1950s/60s housing areas near me are all having gas mains replaced.

Everything is getting Entropy expired.

I noticed this too.

It has been around 12 months of it.

[Rare Bear]

3 hours ago, ILikeCake said:

Same where I live.  I think a lot of it is just down to our infrastructure falling apart.  There's also a lot of gas mains and water mains going in everywhere due to all the new housing estates popping up.

They've never heard of the axiom "Don't let everything get fucked at the same time.".

[Frank Hovis]

19 hours ago, Chewing Grass said:

The 1950s/60s housing areas near me are all having gas mains replaced.

Everything is getting Entropy expired.

 

Yes, I had the gas main in my area and the piping, going all the way to the house gas meter, replaced about three years ago. It was a huge job.

It was the third or fourth block that they had done (they're very visible with a big coil of blue piping, half a dozen vehicles and all the cones surrounding the current holes), and I asked them if they were replacing them all as my parents' area was built only a few years after mine so would be one of the next on the list.

They said yes, it was a rolling programme to replace piping, I think he said it was in preparation for a possible change in what was supplied, like Eco 10 petrol was the suggestion.

 

Anyway, after they finished my area (with lockdowns stopping it midway it ran over a year) they seem to have stopped, I haven't seen them anywhere for three years.

The programme of rolling replacement of the gas infrastructure sounded like a good idea but it's looking like it may have been scrapped.

And I'm not convinced that the gas system is something that you would wish to leave to be replaced upon failure.

[sarahbell]

On 10/11/2023 at 09:14, One percent said:

This is quite helpful 

https://one.network

AMAZING! 

Tells us what the road works are! 

Thank you!