And Another Thing ....

Following last week's mid-week rant about parking, here's another sound-off.

I've just learned of a friend's accident at what has to be the daftest re-design of a junction on the whole motorway system.  It's the north-bound exit slip from the A1(M) at junction 9 - the nearest junction to my home.  Picture the scene (as they say in all the best novels) ...  It's a basic cross-roads situation so, if you exit the motorway, there are only two ways to go: left or right.  OK, you could go straight ahead, but if so, why would you leave the motorway in the first place?

If you want to go left, there is an attractive dedicated left-turn lane, and you notice that this conveniently by-passes the traffic lights that govern entrance to the roundabout above the motorway.  There is a sign saying that this is the lane for Letchworth (i.e. left-turning) traffic, and the words 'Keep in Lane'.  What could be simpler?  If that were it, then all would have been well.  There are two flaws in the basic design, and the conflicting effects of these result in a greater accident potential than there ever was before.

I - When this junction was re-designed about three years ago, I think they must have been short of materials, because instead of widening the road towards Letchworth and allowing traffic from the dedicated lane to merge gently with traffic coming off the roundabout, the road width was left as it always had been, and a white line was placed at the head of the dedicated lane, with give-way markings to yield to any traffic emerging from the roundabout.  You see the dedicated lane, and think there's a clear run into town, and suddenly have to stop at the top, just as if you'd not had this apparent advantage at all - Nonsense no. 1.

II - As I said above, there are two ways to go: left and right, and I would say that, overall, the traffic is about the same going in either direction, with perhaps more going left into Letchworth during the rush-hour.  So why, in their questionable wisdom, did the designers provide two lanes leading up to the roundabout (i.e. for a right turn towards Baldock) in addition to the dedicated left turn lane? - Nonsense no. 2.

Soon after the revised junction opened - within hours, I should think - it became apparent to anyone with a degree of selfish cunning that if there were a long stream of vehicles queued at the give-way line at the head of the dedicated lane, waiting to turn left, you can steal a march on them by going up the middle lane, as if turning right, and once the traffic light turns green, you turn left as if leaving the roundabout, thus cutting across the path of the queue trying to get out of the dedicated lane.

This immediately reduced the value of the dedicated lane to virtually zero.  It was quickly realised that there was a likelihood of traffic coming across you from the roundabout not only when the traffic lights you'd by-passed were at red - i.e. to let traffic emerge from the roundabout, having come off the southbound carriageway of the motorway or from Baldock to the east - but also when they were at green - ostensibly to allow east-bound traffic onto the roundabout.  So everyone stops at the give-way line to make sure there is nothing coming before they head into no-man's-land and make their way towards Letchworth.

Matters were made worse when, a few weeks later, part of the dedicated lane was hatched out, and coloured red, to indicate that its use was discouraged if not forbidden, thus adding to the encouragement for all traffic to stop at the give-way line.

If you follow the signs, and are neither selfish nor cunning, or simply don't know the junction, you use the dedicated left turn lane and, copying everyone else, stop and check.  Despite avoiding the red bit of the road, the angle still isn't a good one for turning the head, so to make sure it's safe to pull out, you virtually have to stop.  The trouble is, drivers differ.  At one extreme there are those who are by nature cautious, who ignore the fact that their vehicles have wing-mirrors, and/or have sore necks, and need to take time to turn their heads to see onto the roundabout.  At the other extreme there are those who, like me, ignore the red zone, sharpen the angle so as to maximise mirror vision, see quickly that the road is clear, and are away.  In between are a whole range of different behaviours, each posing a threat to the others, if their attention is on the roundabout instead of - as it should be - on the vehicle in front.

I have complained - and I imagine others have, too, but to no avail.  "We'll watch it," is the reply.  To my mind the simple solution is to move the traffic lights half-way down the slope (thus reducing the potential advantage to be gained by avoiding the dedicated lane), and to exchange the give-way for a merge, slightly widening the road towards Letchworth as necessary.  Until that is done, there will be more accidents.

If I come to the head of the queue and find that I am made to yield to someone who has come off the motorway through the traffic lights, I follow him halfway down the road with my finger on the horn button - a petty and futile gesture, you might think, but at least it gives him something to think about, and it might ... just might ... reduce by one the number of selfish so-and-so's who make life a nightmare for others who try to do things the 'right way'.

If you're reading this in the comfortable confusion of ignorance, and have no interest in the petty squabbles of North Hertfordshire road-users, please don't just ignore it and wait for the next, more interesting (I hope) blog - instead, forward a link to the Highways Authority, in the hope that some good might come of it!

Thank you.