LIBS Sign posting (moan)

[TheBoatman]

I did my stint on the RNLI stand on Tuesday.

I decided to drive up from Chatham using the A2, Dartford Crossing, A13.

On exiting the tunnel I saw a sign saying "for ExCell" follow A13 - Docklands.
This I did and kept driving on looking for signs marked LIBS-ExCell etc. The first sign I saw was after I had passed over the Blackwall tunnel entrance which then took me into what I can only discribe as roundabout/traffic light city. I then proceeded to reverse course for 4 miles until I finally found the park a ride car park. I was only 1/2 mile from the M11 Jn. I can tell you I was P****d off. 2 hours to get there, 1 hour to get back.

Come on guys (organisers) there are some of us that do try to get to the show from the East - How about to decent signage?

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[Talbot]

Why did you not continue up the A2 and across the Blackwell tunnel ?

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[beneteau_305_553]

I went on tuesday and got lost!

Continue along A 406 follow signs for excell. Where is the park and ride? end up retracing from the west to get direction signs.

<hr width=100% size=1>Richard

 

[Boathook]

The signs for excel were there on the A13 on Monday though they were very poor. Leaving the place was nearly as bad M25 posted and then it disapeared for 2 roundabouts. I now know for next time .....

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[TheBoatman]

I decided that Blackwall would be more hassle than the tunnel at that time of the morning and having done the trip I was proved right. If the organisers had bothered to put a sign up at the M11 Jn I would have been there at least 3/4 of an hour earlier.

If Kim is monitoring this thread then, KIM PLEASE tell them to get proper signs up next year?

For what it's worth a good number of people I know from this area have made the same comment.

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[BrendanS]

Now, proper passage plan? You can't blame the signage/buoyage if you had no plan.

Did you amend your charts based on published corrections about missing signs. Were you using GPS, or dead reckoning?

Did you consult pilot notes such as <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.excel-london.co.uk/excelv2/getting_here/by_road.html>http://www.excel-london.co.uk/excelv2/getting_here/by_road.html</A> and print the excellent pdf chart?

Entering an uknown harbour is easier if you make some easy to read pilotage notes, and maybe a little diagram with key features, headings, light characteristics etc.


Slightly seriously, we do it on boats, why not when driving? I love the new internet maps such as multimap, AA, RAC etc which give directions for specific routes (though some have some quirks) as well as on board GPS systems, and the Vauxhall website which give traffic master like road conditions, and signals major hold ups



<hr width=100% size=1>There is no such thing as "fun for the whole family."

 

[JamesS]

Glad I wasn't the only one then!

Travelling in on the A13 nearly ended up in Congestion Zone.

But seriously, the signing towards the end of the journey was bad especially as it started well with the first sign being seen on the M3 some 50 miles away.

Cheers

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[Twister_Ken]

Electronic navigation

Also <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again

 

[jamesjermain]

BMF/Excel are aware of this problem - teh point has been made forcefully to them several times, including at the regular Editor's Lunch held towards the end of the show.

I may be that the highways authorities or DfT are to blame.

<hr width=100% size=1>JJ

 

[Peppermint]

Re: An enigma

The signing from the M25 was hopeless which is a puzzle because the first sign I saw for the Boatshow was at the M1/M25 junction. Having gone to the trouble of placing this sign why is the next one in Ilford?

Another problem was the names of the carparks. The park and ride was known as CP5 and it was in Beckton. I still don't know how I was supposed to know that after three visits.

Still it looks like 230,000 people did find the place.

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[TheBoatman]

James
It seems from the associated posts that the signs are bad all over and not just from the East.
I would have thought that the “owners” of ExCell would insist on permanent signage seeing as they will be holding many different types of show all year round.


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[robp]

Re: An enigma

From the South, I found it all OK from the Blackwall Tunnel, (just a slight loop through Lewisham) but not LIBS' fault! Having read all the postings before the weekend, I decided to drive straight for the 8 quid job on the doorstep. Drove round the roundabout outside a couple of times, (because there's a park and ride sign there too). Chose what looked like the closest, and went into the "Red" car park, which is alongside the North hall. Some, who apparently knew what they were doing, strode off up to the East entrance, most of us got shepharded onto a bus for the main entrance. When I came to drive home, guy asks for my ticket and says that'll be 5 pounds please? "Er can I have a receipt for that?", I said. "No, we don't give receipts", he said. Strange? Anyway where was the 8 quid job then? By the East Hall I guess? Hour and a half each way from Haslemere, Surrey.

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