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Scrap three-lane sections, A12 inquiry told
5:05am Tuesday 20th May 2008
FEWER accidents would happen on the A12 if it was two lanes wide for its duration, an inquiry heard.
Michael Selfe, former county surveyor of Essex and currently representing the RAC Foundation, said yesterday that he would prefer to see the road reduced in width to two lanes throughout because of the risk of accidents when the road narrows from three lanes to two.
He told the third and final day of the inquiry that while he favoured widening the trunk road to three lanes throughout, if that could not be afforded, then the focus should be on adding safety features such as hard shoulders and more laybys where needed.
The independent inquiry, chaired by former permanent secretary of the Department of Transport Sir David Rowlands, is due to report its recommendations by the end of July.
- More in today's Gazette
Your Say YourColchester
road user, a12 says...
9:21am Tue 20 May 08
DK, Essex says...
9:24am Tue 20 May 08
PJM, Colchester says...
9:52am Tue 20 May 08
Any opportunity for some "improvements" which invariably cause more frustration and cause more delays will no doubt be seized upon with fanatical zeal.
Cliff, Colchester says...
10:02am Tue 20 May 08
david, says...
10:10am Tue 20 May 08
Ted, Colchester says...
10:23am Tue 20 May 08
So lets stop blaming the structure of the roads or how many lanes there are, Because any accidents are caused by people, The road does not jump out and cause a accident does it.
Cyclo, Colchester says...
11:35am Tue 20 May 08
om/
garry, londonish says...
12:03pm Tue 20 May 08
Joe Blogger, Soapbox says...
12:20pm Tue 20 May 08
Jason, Colchester says...
12:59pm Tue 20 May 08
Ted wrote:Someone with some sense at last!
Maybe the accidents are caused by careless driving and people driving to fast. Lets be honest here, The roads get abused by impatience and stupidity. If people are sensible and drive with care and do not drive so fast and close then maybe things will improve. So lets stop blaming the structure of the roads or how many lanes there are, Because any accidents are caused by people, The road does not jump out and cause a accident does it.
Even without accidents or roadworks, traffic jams can appear without any apparent reason.
Except that there is a reason, and the cause of these mysterious hold-ups is people who drive too fast!
When they have to break sharply behind someone driving at a sensible speed, they cause a domino effect further behind and traffic comes to a standstill. Had the same driver been driving at a sensible speed, they would not have had to stop like this suddenly and would have been going along still at the same speed, as would all the traffic behind.
Besides, sensible drivers save money as their fuel consumption is lower and they have to fill up less frequently.
Paul, Colchester says...
1:26pm Tue 20 May 08
Ted, Colchester says...
2:27pm Tue 20 May 08
Joe Blogger wrote:Great Idea, I think if drivers slow down a bit and took more care instead of rushing or driving while tired, It would improve.
Intoduce a 60MPH limit NOW and save lives and petrol!!!
Maybe more unmarked police cars and being a bit more stricter with speeding and tailgating would help, Especially if more bans etc, Then there would not be so many cars on the road. But they do not want that as the more cars, The more money in tax etc. But what is more important?
The Money or peoples LIVES.
dodo, A12 says...
3:33pm Tue 20 May 08
driver, a12 says...
4:49pm Tue 20 May 08
The domino effect caused by people going to fast, these are not the cause generally it is the slow driver NOT returning to the inside lane that causes this problem.
Road surface of the A12 is one of the WORST I have driven on, it is in dire need to complete replacement(maybe it could also be widened at the same time?)
On & Off SLips: these are terrible.
All in All the A12 is not a road designed for the rigors of the 21st Century, and unless it is completely replaced the county of Essex will always have these problems. They want to build huge new housing estates - more traffic, Expansion of container docks at Harwich, Felixstowe & Tilbury - more traffic on A12
simmo, colchester says...
4:50pm Tue 20 May 08
Ted wrote:So how many of you guys get to travel at 60mph at peak periods? problem isn't speed it's volume So many Idiots forget the basic factor here, a12 has been the same more or less for 20 years, yet the towns and drivers have got larger
Joe Blogger wrote:Great Idea, I think if drivers slow down a bit and took more care instead of rushing or driving while tired, It would improve.
Intoduce a 60MPH limit NOW and save lives and petrol!!!
Maybe more unmarked police cars and being a bit more stricter with speeding and tailgating would help, Especially if more bans etc, Then there would not be so many cars on the road. But they do not want that as the more cars, The more money in tax etc. But what is more important?
The Money or peoples LIVES.
James, Colchester says...
4:52pm Tue 20 May 08
The accidents recently on the A12 are at the dangerous slip roads - kelvedon, marks tey and the new mess at Colchester West slip that comes straight into a slip road.
They had the chance to make it safe and three lanes all the way to M25 but "saved Money" by putting in the hard shoulder. Resign and let someone else sort out the problems, hopefully someone who uses the roads.
Red Tape, Colchester says...
4:58pm Tue 20 May 08
Wonder how much he was paid in consultant fees to come up with that bright idea.
TC of Essex, Essex says...
6:28pm Tue 20 May 08
There will always be accidents on the roads, But they would be dramatically reduced if people did slow down and keep plenty of distance between vehicles and took greater care not to drive while tired or overloaded.
Keep your vehicle up to date and road worthy.
The main problem on the roads comes down to two factors, and that is in people.
One is impatience and Two is ignorance of their vehicle maintenance.
Keep the car maintained and slow it down, This will lower the risk of any accident.
andy, says...
6:36pm Tue 20 May 08
Paul, Ongar says...
8:36pm Tue 20 May 08
Your sayYourColchester
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