So it’s 5am and I turn off the M23 to head east on to the M25 towards the Dartford tunnel and, wait a minute, where have all the road works gone – the ones that have been there for the last year, and in which there has been an enforced speed limit of 50mph?
Disappeared, gone, mission accomplished. At last it means I don’t have to sit there at 52mph on the cruise control for the next 20 minutes, trying and sometimes failing to stay awake. Lovely, I think to myself, before realizing after a few moments more that the hard shoulder would also appear to have been tidied away as well.
After a few miles more I then begin to wonder what, exactly, have they been doing here for the last 12 months? Work began on this part of the M25 in May 2013 and, according to the Highways Agency’s website, whatever it is they’ve done has cost us taxpayers £129m.
As far I can tell, though, all they’ve done is repaint the white lines to turn what was the hard shoulder into an extra lane, thereby creating four lanes instead of three. And as a result of this masterpiece of road redecorating, sorry re-engineering, they are claiming that this particular section of the M25 has become a “smart motorway.” One that features “enhanced on-road technology to manage traffic flow that will improve the reliability of journey times, providing a boost for businesses and the wider economy.”
Come again? How exactly does taking one whole year to paint some new white lines (and install 38 CCTV cameras, 33 verge mounted signs, 13 emergency telephones, 10 refugee areas, 9 gantries and 88 new overhead signals) provide a boost for business and economy?
To turn this particular piece of the M25 into a “smart motorway” has basically wrecked the local economy for the last 12 months, because the road itself became a virtual no-go area, so much havoc did the road works wreak. If ever I needed to travel north, from the M23 to the M1 and beyond for the last year, I’ve taken my chances with the slightly less awful but still mayhem-ridden west half of the M25 instead. That’s how consistently dire the delays between junctions five to seven have been.
And now that they’ve finished painting their new white lines and switched all the CCTV cameras and the overhead speed cameras, sorry, the overhead gantries on, the road does appear to be moving along just fine. I got to the Dartford tunnel a good 20 minutes faster than I would have done were the road works still in situ. And for a while I thought all was fine and dandy. Nice job, Highways Agency, even if it did ruin a part of my life for a year.
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Spot on Steve
Lane 1 is woefully underused (possibly a good thing if there is a breakdown!) and as someone else has mentioned, the lane hoggers have just moved from lane 2 to lane 3.
The digital cameras do a double-flash at anyone passing the signs at 10% over the displayed limit, even if that limit popped up 5 seconds earlier as you approached the sign. Many people will say that's fair enough, speeding needs to be controlled, etc. What isn't acceptable is that, because the camera is at the side of the road, pointing across the lanes, the double-flash is absolutely blinding to anyone travelling at night on the opposite carriageway in lane 3 or 4. I know because this happened to me and I lost 2-300 yards of road before usuable vision came back. If they had spent some of the money on lighting the road, this wouldn't be such an issue.
I now come off at the Westerham turn off and drive around this stretch of road, rejoining after it ends. Friends in Westerham cite increased traffic day and night and are adamant that I am not alone in this. I know it's only a personal opinion but I think this road is fundamentally unsafe.
Sevenoaks speed cameras always active...
I hate managed motorways. I
The M6 and M42 are stressful, constantly changing limits between 40 and 60 with consequential braking to avoid a fine, tailgating and general PITA situations.
Great idea in principle, but doesn't seem to work in UK. Bit like the matrix signs on the Eastern side of M60 announcing 'pedestrians on motorway' every time I drive on it, sometimes for days on end, yet to ever see anybody.