Anyone commute B'ham to Nottingham on the M/A42??
Discussion
Bit of a double whammy actually - moving to Solihull in a few weeks (from Northampton) and i was going to be commuting to Rugby. Not too bad, 27 miles. However, our company has been taken over and the chances are that we will be moved to the head office near Ruddington on the A60..
So, as title - anyone commute Birmingham to Nottigham? How long? I know its nearly 60 miles *sigh*, so should i start looking for a new job?!
So, as title - anyone commute Birmingham to Nottigham? How long? I know its nearly 60 miles *sigh*, so should i start looking for a new job?!
We have (or rather had - resigned the other week... Woohoo!) dozens of people commuting from our old offices in Birmingham up to the new one in Derby via the A38/M42-A42. They all hated it. And moaned about it continually. For 3 years. Most still did it, though. The extra trek into Nottingham will be even more of a pain.
They all reckoned on 1-1.5 hours to Derby, if they did a bit of flexi-time (starting at 8.00-8.30).
They all reckoned on 1-1.5 hours to Derby, if they did a bit of flexi-time (starting at 8.00-8.30).
Ouch.
Not too bad (relatively speaking) if you can work flexi hours but not something I would want to do during rush hour no matter which route you take. The only benefit would be that there are a number of alterntaive routes if you hear a traffic report (soon enough) that advises of problems.
I live in Castle Donington. A pal of mine uses some offices in the village. A few weeks ago he had a lunch time meeting in Nottingham - south side of the centre so straight in in the A453. Took him 2 hours to do the 15 miles.
The next day he had a meeting in Birmingham. About 40 miles. He was there in under an hour despite having to find the place.
I have sometimes travelled the other way (From Donington heading south on the A42/M42) at rush hour and it was mostly not very pleasant at any time after about 06:30 passing the Tamworth junction. By 07:00 the Toll-NEC-M40 section can be very miserable.
The end of the A42 where it joins the M1 is often not great. There are few alternatives at that point, though Ruddington may best be approached by avoiding the A453 from J24 into Nottingham and cutting across country. Potentially an nice drive on a few interesting roads for 10 miles but more likely a PITA following a school bus or similar and perhaps iffy in winter.
Your situation, employment location changing outside your control, is exactly the situation that this government and all the London based Greenies pointedly ignore in their social engineering plans for mass transport.
Sorry to be so negative but there is no point in trying gloss over the potential problems of the journey even on a good day. If there are any roadworks or accidents ir doesn't get better.
Not too bad (relatively speaking) if you can work flexi hours but not something I would want to do during rush hour no matter which route you take. The only benefit would be that there are a number of alterntaive routes if you hear a traffic report (soon enough) that advises of problems.
I live in Castle Donington. A pal of mine uses some offices in the village. A few weeks ago he had a lunch time meeting in Nottingham - south side of the centre so straight in in the A453. Took him 2 hours to do the 15 miles.
The next day he had a meeting in Birmingham. About 40 miles. He was there in under an hour despite having to find the place.
I have sometimes travelled the other way (From Donington heading south on the A42/M42) at rush hour and it was mostly not very pleasant at any time after about 06:30 passing the Tamworth junction. By 07:00 the Toll-NEC-M40 section can be very miserable.
The end of the A42 where it joins the M1 is often not great. There are few alternatives at that point, though Ruddington may best be approached by avoiding the A453 from J24 into Nottingham and cutting across country. Potentially an nice drive on a few interesting roads for 10 miles but more likely a PITA following a school bus or similar and perhaps iffy in winter.
Your situation, employment location changing outside your control, is exactly the situation that this government and all the London based Greenies pointedly ignore in their social engineering plans for mass transport.
Sorry to be so negative but there is no point in trying gloss over the potential problems of the journey even on a good day. If there are any roadworks or accidents ir doesn't get better.
thanks for the info 
Funnily enough, they are currently negotiating a new office/customer center somewhere near Pride Park, so this is another option.... My boss should be coming back (hopefully) today with some more info. And more importantly, T&C's. I am not doing 120 miles a day without some extra sweet benefits!
Funnily enough, they are currently negotiating a new office/customer center somewhere near Pride Park, so this is another option.... My boss should be coming back (hopefully) today with some more info. And more importantly, T&C's. I am not doing 120 miles a day without some extra sweet benefits!
Pride Park might be a little better than Ruddington. At least you have a few more options on routes if things get snarled up somewhere.
On a clear run I would reckon Solihull to Pride Park at about an hour minimum - maybe a little more with all the motorway speed controls in place around the M42 these days.
How many clear runs you would get at commute times I really don't know.
I agree about the need for extra dosh. Also, if mileage or similar is to be claimed, for tax purposes you need to be based at home as your normal place of work (unless the rules have changed) otherwise most of the additional will go straight to the Chancer of the Exchequer.
You could consider the Rail option if Pride Park is the objective. Might not save time but could be better on the aggro front. Depends where on or around Pride Park you might be in relation to the station. Some places are very close, others not so close.
Rail not a serious option for Ruddington however one looks at it.
On a clear run I would reckon Solihull to Pride Park at about an hour minimum - maybe a little more with all the motorway speed controls in place around the M42 these days.
How many clear runs you would get at commute times I really don't know.
I agree about the need for extra dosh. Also, if mileage or similar is to be claimed, for tax purposes you need to be based at home as your normal place of work (unless the rules have changed) otherwise most of the additional will go straight to the Chancer of the Exchequer.
You could consider the Rail option if Pride Park is the objective. Might not save time but could be better on the aggro front. Depends where on or around Pride Park you might be in relation to the station. Some places are very close, others not so close.
Rail not a serious option for Ruddington however one looks at it.
The A453 is all too often a PITA. There's a couple of really good blackspots, one of which has been recently improved though, but a shunt at any one of them causes the whole road to come to a standstill. This probably happens twice a week.
You can cut cross country on lots of B and unclassified roads, you're best grabbing a decent atlas and getting used to the area.
If the M42 is fubarred, there's always the A5, A50 and other routes taking you north of the 42.
While I don't commute between the two, I do have many customers in the Birmingham area - I usually take the A50-A38 which brings you in to Aldridge/Walsall (but then, that's because my customers are on that side of Brum).
You can cut cross country on lots of B and unclassified roads, you're best grabbing a decent atlas and getting used to the area.
If the M42 is fubarred, there's always the A5, A50 and other routes taking you north of the 42.
While I don't commute between the two, I do have many customers in the Birmingham area - I usually take the A50-A38 which brings you in to Aldridge/Walsall (but then, that's because my customers are on that side of Brum).
flipflop - what times do you commute? Gonna be Junction 5 for me, luckily, only 2 mins away.
thanks again - when i used to live in solihull with my parents (10 years ago), i worked in Ashby de la Zouche - about 30-40 mins then. I remember what the south bound used to be like! (Just remeniscing, i remember when the M42 stopped at the Stratford Road, literally a bunch of logs across the carridgeway! Ahh my mum burning down a deserted motorway @ 120 roof down in the triumph Stag
)
Anyway, probably jumping the gun - still might get made redundant!
thanks again - when i used to live in solihull with my parents (10 years ago), i worked in Ashby de la Zouche - about 30-40 mins then. I remember what the south bound used to be like! (Just remeniscing, i remember when the M42 stopped at the Stratford Road, literally a bunch of logs across the carridgeway! Ahh my mum burning down a deserted motorway @ 120 roof down in the triumph Stag
) Anyway, probably jumping the gun - still might get made redundant!
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