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Newbury Today Forum _ Newbury News _ M43

Posted by: Simon Kirby Aug 17 2016, 02:52 PM

[edit: sorry about the title, that should of course read M34]

How about the M34 from Winchester to Bicester? The A34 is such a strategic route that it's crying out for better capacity, and the safety record is getting quite poor too. I'm far from keen to see a loss of habitat but there's no reason why any loss can't be mitigated with habitat creation elsewhere, and if the road was designed well there's no reason why noise couldn't actually be reduced. Obviously there's thecost to consider, but this is the kind of civil engineering that I'd sooner we were spending that £200billion Trident money on.

Posted by: JeffG Aug 17 2016, 05:47 PM

And there was me thinking this was going to be about the "other" Orion nebula.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Aug 17 2016, 05:56 PM

QUOTE (JeffG @ Aug 17 2016, 06:47 PM) *
And there was me thinking this was going to be about the "other" Orion nebula.

Nice one Jeff, it's not often I'm out-geeked but you had me there. smile.gif

Posted by: On the edge Aug 17 2016, 05:59 PM

QUOTE (Simon Kirby @ Aug 17 2016, 03:52 PM) *
[edit: sorry about the title, that should of course read M34]

How about the M34 from Winchester to Bicester? The A34 is such a strategic route that it's crying out for better capacity, and the safety record is getting quite poor too. I'm far from keen to see a loss of habitat but there's no reason why any loss can't be mitigated with habitat creation elsewhere, and if the road was designed well there's no reason why noise couldn't actually be reduced. Obviously there's thecost to consider, but this is the kind of civil engineering that I'd sooner we were spending that £200billion Trident money on.


The cost from the Trident budget would be almost unnoticeable. Arguably our greater interest in trading world wide means the South Coast ports like Southampton are likely to expand significantly. Even without that, traffic and in particular HGV movements are growing. Using the Newbury / Winchester stretch regularly for twenty years, it was quite obvious!

Posted by: Biker1 Aug 17 2016, 08:54 PM

Or how about investing in the long term and rebuild the railway from Winchester to Didcot? wink.gif
EDIT: For those who say you can't supply supermarkets etc. by rail have a look http://www.freightonrail.org.uk/CaseStudySupermarkets.htm.

Posted by: Simon Kirby Aug 17 2016, 09:00 PM

QUOTE (Biker1 @ Aug 17 2016, 09:54 PM) *
Or how about investing in the long term and rebuild the railway from Winchester to Didcot? wink.gif

I thought about mentioning that too - it is an option.

Posted by: Biker1 Aug 17 2016, 09:06 PM

QUOTE (Simon Kirby @ Aug 17 2016, 10:00 PM) *
I thought about mentioning that too - it is an option.

Unfortunately it would mean building over the top of the Newbury By-Pass!! laugh.gif

Posted by: Simon Kirby Aug 17 2016, 09:13 PM

QUOTE (Biker1 @ Aug 17 2016, 10:06 PM) *
Unfortunately it would mean building over the top of the Newbury By-Pass!! laugh.gif

There's always a way.

Posted by: JeffG Aug 18 2016, 08:12 AM

QUOTE (Simon Kirby @ Aug 17 2016, 10:13 PM) *
There's always a way.

An elevated monorail would do it. wink.gif

Posted by: Lolly Aug 18 2016, 09:49 AM

QUOTE (Simon Kirby @ Aug 17 2016, 09:13 PM) *
There's always a way.


How about under it?

Posted by: Simon Kirby Aug 18 2016, 01:03 PM

As much as I'd like to get freight off the road I don't know that it would be the whole answer and I think there'd still be the need to bring the A34 up to motorway standard.

Posted by: Biker1 Aug 18 2016, 09:09 PM

QUOTE (Simon Kirby @ Aug 18 2016, 02:03 PM) *
As much as I'd like to get freight off the road I don't know that it would be the whole answer and I think there'd still be the need to bring the A34 up to motorway standard.

Bringing a road up to motorway standard does not necessarily mean it has to have 3 lanes but I assume this is what you mean?

Posted by: Simon Kirby Aug 18 2016, 09:29 PM

QUOTE (Biker1 @ Aug 18 2016, 10:09 PM) *
Bringing a road up to motorway standard does not necessarily mean it has to have 3 lanes but I assume this is what you mean?

No, I wasn't necessarily saying it would need three lanes, the particular problem with the present road would appear to be that it isn't designed very well and motorwars have a bunch of design standards and regulations that would seem to fix most of the problems. Of course by the time you've widened it sufficiently to accomodate hard shouldets and such then it might well pay to go the whole hog and three-lane it for a bit of future proofing, but the point of discussion is more about whether it should be a motorway or not.

I say widen - it's not a given that an M34 would occupy the same space as the present A34, at least not along its total length, and it may be that around Newbury and Oxford an entirely new motorway should be constructed with the existing A34 serving local traffic, and tje best route fpr the M34 migjt yet be to the east of Newbury.

Posted by: gel Aug 26 2016, 06:46 AM

Another multiple shunt at Botley last night:

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/14705962.UPDATE__Vehicles_cleared_as_police_investigate_ten_vehicle_pile_up_near_Hinksey_Hill_Interchange_on_the_A34/

angry.gif

Posted by: Sherlock Aug 26 2016, 02:41 PM

I completely agree that the road should by upgraded to a motorway but given the government's unwillingness to fund capital projects, except those that make no sense like HS2, it'll never happen. There's certainly no chance of a rail project in the area in the foreseeable future.

Even if funding were to be made available - and with the cost of government borrowing at a record low, it could be - it would take forever, perhaps 10-15 years to get approval even it was ever forthcoming. Look at the endless delays to the Sandleford development. How many more will be maimed and killed in that period?

We need to know what seems to be a big uptick in the number of accidents but at the end of the day it must be driver behaviour - cars and lorries don't crash themselves. Chronic tailgating, aggressive driving by drivers of cars and HGVs and a few drivers travelling very high speeds are all very evident to anyone who uses the roads.

Given that TVP are reducing front line police numbers during a period of ever increasing population and road use it seems unlikely that we'll see traffic police on the road and they can only be of limited effectivness.

Seems to me that average speed cameras covering the worst affected stretches and much more use of CCTV to monitor driver behaviour are amongst the short term solutions which should be looked at. Maybe the next generation will get to see a significantly improved road.

Posted by: JeffG Aug 26 2016, 05:55 PM

QUOTE (Sherlock @ Aug 26 2016, 03:41 PM) *
I completely agree that the road should by upgraded to a motorway

I assume you mean "to motorway standards". You can't just turn a road into a motorway without providing a non-motorway alternative.

Posted by: Biker1 Aug 26 2016, 07:02 PM

QUOTE (Sherlock @ Aug 26 2016, 03:41 PM) *
those that make no sense like HS2,

Explain please.

Posted by: Andy Capp Aug 26 2016, 08:07 PM

QUOTE (Biker1 @ Aug 26 2016, 08:02 PM) *
Explain please.

I would imagine he is cynical about the ROI and the likely effectiveness of the project.

Posted by: blackdog Aug 27 2016, 01:16 PM

QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Aug 26 2016, 09:07 PM) *
I would imagine he is cynical about the ROI and the likely effectiveness of the project.


Where does the Republic of Ireland come into it?

Posted by: motormad Sep 14 2016, 12:01 PM

You can't just upgrade the A34 to be a motorway.
Legally there has to be decent routes around the country which aren't motorways for idiots who have 50cc mopeds or still travel by carrier pony.

It would be better to be upgraded to 3 lanes (like the A3 is) but that doesn't stop the issue of poor lane behaviour (lane hogging), people who do not accelerate in a timely manner to join the motorway or who pull out without regard for faster traffic causing them to slam on their brakes at the last minute.

Posted by: Washwaterman Sep 14 2016, 08:31 PM

QUOTE (motormad @ Sep 14 2016, 01:01 PM) *
You can't just upgrade the A34 to be a motorway.
Legally there has to be decent routes around the country which aren't motorways for idiots who have 50cc mopeds or still travel by carrier pony.

It would be better to be upgraded to 3 lanes (like the A3 is) but that doesn't stop the issue of poor lane behaviour (lane hogging), people who do not accelerate in a timely manner to join the motorway or who pull out without regard for faster traffic causing them to slam on their brakes at the last minute.



I think this would be a good step forward https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ridS396W2BY

Posted by: Biker1 Sep 16 2016, 08:25 AM

QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Aug 26 2016, 09:07 PM) *
I would imagine he is cynical about the ROI and the likely effectiveness of the project.

Or he has been taken in by the anti rhetoric?

Posted by: Andy Capp Sep 16 2016, 12:22 PM

QUOTE (Biker1 @ Sep 16 2016, 09:25 AM) *
Or he has been taken in by the anti rhetoric?

That is your biased view, mine is just a neutral statement of fact. wink.gif

Posted by: Biker1 Sep 17 2016, 08:40 AM

QUOTE (Andy Capp @ Sep 16 2016, 01:22 PM) *
That is your biased view, mine is just a neutral statement of fact. wink.gif

A statement of fact starting with "I would imagine"?
Hmmmm..............I think of mine just as a balanced ing view. tongue.gif

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