J14 M5 traffic lights

[Rob]

Anyone commute via Junction 14 on the M5? I use this every day to join
the M5 and travel north . Last year traffic lights were installed and
the effect caused utter caos on the surrounding roads. After about a
month the lights were turned off.

Eventually they were left in a part time mode of operation. Bizarrely
only operating outside of peak traffic conditions. No doubt a face
saving compromise due to the £700,000 or more spent on the pointless
lights.

Now the lights have been turned back on again and the traffic is even
worse. I had a 2 mile queue and a 37 minute wait to join the M5 when
previously there was none.

An appalling waste of fuel as well. I always turn my engine off in a
queue, but not everyone else does that. The pollution levels caused by
all that long waiting stationary traffic must be dangerously high for
the residenst who live next to the road.

If you are affected by this then why not let the highways agency how
unhappy you are.

try emailing or phoning the following individuals. They were working
for the agency last year, so they may still be there now.

Dave Frampton
Lisa Comerford
Malcolm Wilkinson

http://www.highways.gov.uk/

[Steve Firth]

Post by Rob
Anyone commute via Junction 14 on the M5? I use this every day to join
the M5 and travel north . Last year traffic lights were installed and
the effect caused utter caos on the surrounding roads. After about a
month the lights were turned off.
Eventually they were left in a part time mode of operation. Bizarrely
only operating outside of peak traffic conditions. No doubt a face
saving compromise due to the £700,000 or more spent on the pointless
lights.
Now the lights have been turned back on again and the traffic is even
worse. I had a 2 mile queue and a 37 minute wait to join the M5 when
previously there was none.

Get out of bed a bit earlier? The reasons for the use of lights at that
junction was given in the project description:

http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/3545.aspx

Where it is clear that before the lights were in operation traffic was
queueing on the M5 main carriageway, leading to injury accidents on the
M5 and also for traffic turning right onto the M5 motorway.


[snip]

Post by Rob
try emailing or phoning the following individuals. They were working
for the agency last year, so they may still be there now.

[snip list of names]
At least one of those people is doing a different job although still
with the Highways Agency. It's a nasty little trick trying to blame
individuals for your petty frustrations, especially since the works have
been done at the instigation of South Gloucestershire council.

[Rob]

I'm not blaming individuals, they are the point of contact within the
highways agency. I have talked with Dave and Lisa previously about the
situation. I was impressed that I could actually phone up the Highways
agency and talk to a real person who was involved in the situation.

Note that I didn't give their email addresses since I didn't want them
to receive loads of spam.

Dave Frampton emailed me the accident stats last year. Very interesting
reading. Mostly minor stuff with one serious accident.

This serious accident is a bit weird. It happened at about 3 am in
january a couple of years ago. Not a lot of traffic around at that
time. From memory a car had turned around at the junction and collided
with another car. Considering the probable lack of traffic at that time
in the morning, it's almost as if "they" waited for the other car to
turn up before performing their maneuver.

Ironically, the only accident that I have witnessed was last year in
january where someone had driven into the newly installed lights.

I have never witnessed queing onto the M5 at the junctions, despite
using it every day at peak times for 5 years.You should try J12 for
that.

If drivers were a bit more curteous to each other such as slowing down
a bit to let others pull out of a junction then things would flow a lot
better.

[Steve Firth]

Rob wrote:
[snip]

Post by Rob
If drivers were a bit more curteous to each other such as slowing down
a bit to let others pull out of a junction then things would flow a lot
better.

If I'm interpreting what you are saying correctly then you seem to have
a misconception of how to join a motorway at a junction. Traffic on the
main carriageway should not slow to permit people to join at a slip
road, drivers on the entry slip should match their speed, and make use
of mirrors and a "life saver" look to the rear to join the motorway safely.

If you mean that drivers on the exit slip should expect traffic on the
main road to slow to allow them out then I again, it's a case of who
should suffer inconvenience? Someone's kind act in slowing to let
someone out is an inconvenience to following traffic and may cause an
accident if someone misinterprets the reason for slowing and overtakes
the vehicle.

[Rob]

Sorry, I don't think I explained very clearly previously. I was
referring to traffic leaving a motorway and backing up on to the
motorway due to the constant flow of traffic across the junction. It's
just that if traffic slowed a bit across the junction thus opening up
the gaps between cars a bit more, then traffic leaving the motorway
would be able to exit safely and more frequently, preventing excessive
queueing back on to the motorway.

It's been a few years since I read the highway code, however, I thought
the one place you shouldn't overtake is at a junction.

It's a bit of a seperate issue to J14 situation.

I'm not insisting that I am right, just putting forward and idea.

[Silk]

Post by Rob
If drivers were a bit more curteous to each other such as slowing down
a bit to let others pull out of a junction then things would flow a lot
better.

Sometimes, I wish drivers would just carry on doing what they are doing.
I've usually already spotted my gap; then some fool showing mis-placed
courtesy just messes it up.

[Silk]

Post by Rob
Anyone commute via Junction 14 on the M5? I use this every day to join
the M5 and travel north . Last year traffic lights were installed and
the effect caused utter caos on the surrounding roads. After about a
month the lights were turned off.
Eventually they were left in a part time mode of operation. Bizarrely
only operating outside of peak traffic conditions. No doubt a face
saving compromise due to the £700,000 or more spent on the pointless
lights.

You obviously use it at the wrong times. Typical whinging commuter who
only drives during peak periods:-) I use that junction regularly as I
live nearby. Exiting Southbound is now tollerable since the lights have
been installed; before that you took your life in your hands, especially
at night. If it's that much of a problem, you can always take the back
road into Michaelwood services a bit further up the A38 and join the M5
from there. ;-) Or join at J13.