LONG_KEELER
Well-Known Member
Looking at the forecast it seems likely.
Giving the place a wide berth might be wise.
Giving the place a wide berth might be wise.
Orwell Bridge & Felixstowe closed tomorrow ?
- Thread starter LONG_KEELER
- Start date
LONG_KEELER
Well-Known Member
Just heard that the bridge will close from 2100 tonight.
It is unfortunate that they would not start with vehicle speed limits rather than a blanket closure.
It is unfortunate that they would not start with vehicle speed limits rather than a blanket closure.
matthewriches
Well-Known Member
Glad I'm nowhere near for the next few days. A bit of wind ffs!
pvb
Well-Known Member
It's the usual response of the jobsworths in Highways England. If they close the bridge, there won't be any accidents on the bridge. They can't reduce the speed limit, because they'd never agree with each other what a "safe speed" might be!
VicS
Well-Known Member
The QE II bridge will be closed overnight too
pvb
Well-Known Member
Ah, but they can use a tunnel as an alternative. The alternative to the Orwell Bridge is to totally gridlock Ipswich.
Lucky Duck
Well-Known Member
Outside of the small hours reverting to the tunnels pretty much guarantees gridlock for miles on the Essex and Kent sections of the M25.
On the Orwell bridge - I never fully grasped why a lower speed limit complete with average speed cameras was deemed necessary 24/7/365
On the Orwell bridge - I never fully grasped why a lower speed limit complete with average speed cameras was deemed necessary 24/7/365
pvb
Well-Known Member
That's fairly normal for those stretches of the M25.
It wasn't necessary at any time. The history of accidents on or near the bridge shows the causes to be basic careless driving, combined with a totally inadequate sliproad at the petrol station. They should have closed the petrol station and introduced no overtaking on the bridge instead. The 60mph limit just encourages traffic bunching.
PaulRainbow
Well-Known Member
I agree. The slip road from the garage is woefully inadequate, accidents waiting to happen.
The 60 MPH limit must be a nice little earner
matthewriches
Well-Known Member
All joking aside, I lay here in Southwold at the moment petrified! My little wind monitor Christmas present has blown off and gone swimming. Ropes are doubled up and seem as if they’re at breaking point. 55mph winds measured here 1/2 hour ago. Feels like a truck slamming into the boat every 3 minutes.
I normally laugh in the face of danger.... where’s my mummy :disgust:
I normally laugh in the face of danger.... where’s my mummy :disgust:
WF36
Well-Known Member
Cash Cow
pvb
Well-Known Member
Hmmm... almost a million quid in the first year!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-40801238
ballyabroad
Well-Known Member
80k vehicles a day x 365 days = 29 million pa using the bridge
29M/8500 unlucky souls = 1:3500 ish of being nobbled pa
Feeling lucky punk! Thank the stars for snooze control.
29M/8500 unlucky souls = 1:3500 ish of being nobbled pa
Feeling lucky punk! Thank the stars for snooze control.
wingdiver
Well-Known Member
It's also a shame they can't divert high sided vehicles off before the Orwell Bridge and let cars etc across when the wind is not too high. A blanket ban means more gridlock. Letting cars across would help massively. There must be a lower mph limit to keep trucks off than cars..... or can Highways England not work that out.
johnalison
Well-Known Member
It's merely a tax on those who can't count up to sixty.
Current map shows staionary traffic from the A12 round the A14 and into town.
MikeBz
Well-Known Member
A wonderful example of the mis-application of statistics
Even with snooze control you have to remember to set it, although since most built in SatNavs know the speed limit surely it's only a matter of time before there is an option to link the speed limiter to the SatNav.
pvb
Well-Known Member
The bridge has re-opened, but it'll take hours for the queues to disperse. The EADT has this photo of the queue on the road from Woolverstone down into Ipswich. It's slow enough at the best of times!
View attachment 68320
View attachment 68320
PaulRainbow
Well-Known Member
Took two hours to get from Shotley to the Haven at Ipswich this morning.
Lucky Duck
Well-Known Member
Hopefully a spring tide sufficient to flood there isn't in the offing!
Kukri
Well-Known Member
Felixstowe Port shuts down at a wind strength of 40 knots. That seems a reasonable wind speed to close the bridge at, as the container trucks passing it are going nowhere except to be stacked.
I am one of those people who usually has some points on his licence, but so far I have not been one of the "one in three and a half thousand", thanks to religious application of snooze control. I don't see a problem with the petrol station "on" slip road, but that's probably because I have driven over the bridge "n" times, so I am aware of the fact that it's not a very good one.
I am one of those people who usually has some points on his licence, but so far I have not been one of the "one in three and a half thousand", thanks to religious application of snooze control. I don't see a problem with the petrol station "on" slip road, but that's probably because I have driven over the bridge "n" times, so I am aware of the fact that it's not a very good one.
