M25 traffic and the lack of information
I'm really fed up getting stuck in traffic jams on our motorways, particularly the M25 because the traffic information boards either do not have up to date information, or worst case there is no information at all. Listening to the radio for traffic reports is useful, but not always accurate or timely either.
Here is an example of a trip I made recently that highlights the problems I faced on what should have been a straightforward journey. Ok, Im trying to get to Oxford on Friday afternoon from Kent, my normal route is A21, M25 and M40, just as I approach the A21/M25 junction there is a board on the side of the road that should warn you of problems on the M25. Nothing on the board so great I think to myself, it's all clear and should be an easy trip.
M25 - Why didnt they just close the junctions?
Alas no, 20 minutes later I find myself in the worst traffic jam ever. The M25 is closed from junction 8 to junction 10 and I am completely stuck! Why on earth didnt they close the junctions allowing people onto the M25, or at least use the warning boards they have to advise drivers of issues before they joined the motorway?
So, after the superb skills of the highways people and police, I am stuck in a lengthening tailback for 2 hours before I am finally able to get to a junction and turn around, only to find the M25 traffic anticlockwise is also stuck at Dartford because of an accident. I can understand accidents happen, but I feel the traffic was made a lot worse by a clear lack of communication.
I never did make it to Oxford that day after more than 2 hours of driving and I had travelled only 20 miles in all that time. Next time I'll give the M25 a complete miss altogether and I might actually reach my destination!
Comments from visitors
I use a website to tell me if there's problems on my route. It's www.checkmyroute.com and it's free (unless you want text messages too). Very Useful.
Don Brentwood - 12-Sep-09 16:25
My advice? Avoid the M25 during the daytime altogether.
2 hours??? Try 4.5 hours for a 29 mile journey
2 hours??? Try 4.5 hours for a 29 mile journey
2 hours??? Try 4.5 hours for a 29 mile journey
I really love traffic jams, I don't get frustrated at all. I enjoy wasting precious fuel (burn more fuel stationery than in motion), the sweet aroma of the clutch, stops and starts and in-car entertainment of watching the fuel gauge elevate.
You are obviously on their team are you Mickey or Pluto.
Because the Department of Transport or, whoever controls your section of the M25, couldn't organise a bun-fight in a bakery.
Said Lisa.
Lorries are checked for faults EVERY 6 weeks in a garage unlike cars which only need to be checked once a year.
What time do you suggest lorries should be limited to travelling at?. Night time when you are in bed and being woken by the noise?, after rush hour? imagine the carnage when they all come back on the road at the same time, and where would they all go at that time?, lorry parks across the country are closing to make way for housing and industrial estates and are not being replaced.
The problem on the M25 is the emergency services its far too easy for them to shut the roads for as long as they want to they have no incentive to open the roads as soon as any accident has been cleared, A lot of idiots in cars dont know where they are or where they need to be so a large amount of them cut across the paqths of lorries at a moments notice to get off at the junction they need, causing the lorries to lose control.
As for lorries I presume Lisa you have driven one or at least have travelled in one and can comment on their unfair use of the roads?.
Or were you just held up one day on the way to work?.
I have total sympathy for the accident and people involved - but, having checked a travel website before departing and reading that could expect slight delays - I feel rather annoyed that the reality of the matter was that junction 6 to 7 was shut and we were not told.
We hit trouble at junction 5 and STOPPED. There were no signs or signals warning us that THERE WAS NO-WHERE TO GO!!! The matrix signs informed us that the speed limit was 40 - the chance would of been a fine thing.
I am hopeful of a rescheduled flight on monday, but 3 days of my yearly longed for holiday would have been lost by then.
Thehonourable - 7-Jun-07 18:24





