The Cambridge guided busway

[Crankarm]

we go over the A14 on LonJoG. You may have seen the note on the crib sheet saying 'avoid A14'. That's because on the first recce ride I didn't avoid the A14. Cue general disappointment with life coupled with sufficient panic to force a visit to the Happy Eater on the first slip road off what is a motorway, but with narrower lanes.

It's not a motorway as it only has 2 lanes and not the requisite 3.

The A14 is no different to any other dual carriageway in the country which carries a very heavy volume of traffic. The lunatic MPs at Westiminster have decided to continue with the mad mad HS2 project costing billions upon billions ££££££££££ and desecrating numerous fragile habitats in AONBs along the proposed route to Birmingham. Insead they could quite easily cut HS2 and instead extend the existing railway lines, the Chiltern Line, which would cost a fraction of the price, and divert the many billions saved on scrapping HS2 to much needed road improvements for the A14 which they should have carried out 15 years ago as it is a major and frequently congested route. Where is the logic in this? Who wants to go to Birmingham very quickly anwyay? I think the trains heading London bound will be full and almost all those going toward Birmingham will be empty .

 

[Crankarm]

Don't mention the horse poo to Crankarm!

I'm all pooed out as there was a fair bit deposited today being a sunday and dry.

 

[dellzeqq]

It's not a motorway as it only has 2 lanes and not the requisite 3.
.

plenty of motorways have two rather than three lanes for sections - check out the M56, the M54 and the M53. And the M50. And the M49, and the M32. The M26. The M77, M90, M80, M898 and the M876. And that's before we get to the A(M)s and the western end of the M4. In whatever colour. Now do yourself a favour and look at the map. The A14 has numbered, no-stop junctions with slip roads. That's called, not by me, but by people at the DfT 'motorway by stealth'.

 

[dellzeqq]

I'm all pooed out as there was a fair bit deposited today being a sunday and dry.

deposited or talked?

 

[AnythingButVanilla]

They were talking about installing one of these things in Glasgow about a decade ago and I remember at the time wondering what the point of them is. They still take up space on the road, need a driver to drive the thing and will cost an absolute shitload of money and they're not especially nice to look at.

Wiki states that they want one out east in time for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 but I've no idea if it's happening or not as I've not lived in the city for almost four years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Fastlink

 

[Pat "5mph"]

They were talking about installing one of these things in Glasgow about a decade ago and I remember at the time wondering what the point of them is. They still take up space on the road, need a driver to drive the thing and will cost an absolute shitload of money and they're not especially nice to look at.

Wiki states that they want one out east in time for the Commonwealth Games in 2014 but I've no idea if it's happening or not as I've not lived in the city for almost four years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Fastlink

That'll be the new(ish) first bus 100. It's just a bus, nothing like in Cambridge. If you cycle along it, it will squash you nae bother.

 

[ufkacbln]

We have one in Gosport and although it is a lovely cycle track, it goes nowhere!

They have axed buses on other routes to make up for it as well.

My 86 year old MiL had three buses per hour, and now has only one or a 3/4 mile walk to the nearest stop for the BRT.

The one time she did use it on the way back, it was wet and slipped on the wooden floor (excellent combination)

 

[TheDoctor]

It's not a motorway as it only has 2 lanes and not the requisite 3.

The A14 is no different to any other dual carriageway in the country which carries a very heavy volume of traffic. The lunatic MPs at Westiminster have decided to continue with the mad mad HS2 project costing billions upon billions ££££££££££ and desecrating numerous fragile habitats in AONBs along the proposed route to Birmingham. Insead they could quite easily cut HS2 and instead extend the existing railway lines, the Chiltern Line, which would cost a fraction of the price, and divert the many billions saved on scrapping HS2 to much needed road improvements for the A14 which they should have carried out 15 years ago as it is a major and frequently congested route. Where is the logic in this? Who wants to go to Birmingham very quickly anwyay? I think the trains heading London bound will be full and almost all those going toward Birmingham will be empty .

Right. Isn't London going to get a bit full then?
And (if we're having an anti-rail rant) every high speed line in France has earned its keep very rapidly. Why would ours be any different?
And the best thing you could do with the A14 is bomb the fecker. It's an awful road, with all the bad points of a motorway and none of the good bits. I hate driving on it, and wouldn't ever chance cycling on it.

 

[simon.r]

plenty of motorways have two rather than three lanes for sections - check out the M56, the M54 and the M53. And the M50. And the M49, and the M32. The M26. The M77, M90, M80, M898 and the M876. And that's before we get to the A(M)s and the western end of the M4.

M69 and M42 as well.

There's a section of the M42 which gets so busy in peak times that HGVs are barred from the outside lane, to prevent the wagon that's doing 56mph taking half an hour to overtake the wagon that's doing 55.5mph.

Not that that's relevant.

 

[TheDoctor]

I'd like to see that rule on all motorways, all the time.
Actually - on all roads, all the time.

 

[Archie_tect]

Following the anti- A14 rants, it would help any one of the routes through the NE to Scotland if we had just one dual carriageway of any sort. Apart from the A74 to Glasgow there's not one... not a single one ...but the rail link's fantastic if you need to get to Edinburgh or Berwick or Alnmouth.

 

[User269]

M69 and M42 as well.

And the M3.

 

[MisterStan]

As for the rest - it's a bit like prescribing aspirin for a crack habit.

You are right, however IF more people were to use the busway/cycle, then it would have some effect, I'm not saying that it would solve 3rd world debt or give us world peace, but it would make some difference. I know many people who live down the A14 corridor who drive each day, on their own in a car, they then pay for parking in town. I'm on the bus now (couldn't face getting as wet as I did last week on a Monday) free WiFi and it stops outside my house. When you factor in the traffic jams and congestion on the A14, it's often just as quick to use the bus. £21 a week for unlimited travel too, so cheaper than running a car.

 

[dellzeqq]

You are right, however IF more people were to use the busway/cycle, then it would have some effect, I'm not saying that it would solve 3rd world debt or give us world peace, but it would make some difference. I know many people who live down the A14 corridor who drive each day, on their own in a car, they then pay for parking in town. I'm on the bus now (couldn't face getting as wet as I did last week on a Monday) free WiFi and it stops outside my house. When you factor in the traffic jams and congestion on the A14, it's often just as quick to use the bus. £21 a week for unlimited travel too, so cheaper than running a car.

all this is true....but wouldn't an ordinary bus route travelling on the A14 west (a few layby bus stops) and the smaller roads parallel to Newmarket have done the job for less money? With a bit of bus/commercial vehicle laning on the approaches to Cambridge?

If car drivers spent time stationary while public and strategic traffic strolled past, they'd have an incentive to use the bus

 

[HLaB]

plenty of motorways have two rather than three lanes for sections - check out the M56, the M54 and the M53. And the M50. And the M49, and the M32. The M26. The M77, M90, M80, M898 and the M876. And that's before we get to the A(M)s and the western end of the M4. In whatever colour. Now do yourself a favour and look at the map. The A14 has numbered, no-stop junctions with slip roads. That's called, not by me, but by people at the DfT 'motorway by stealth'.

Just to add the M8, M9, M74, M75 & M76 practically all the motorways in Scotland (including the one's you've listed) predominantly have two lanes.