New M4 Surface. Reading to London. Dangerous?
Discussion
Hi all,
So i travel on the M4 daily into London and today was the first day since most of the new surface opened where we have had some heavy rain.
It was very heavy this morning and the water was not draining at all, it was flooding across all 3 lanes for nearly 25 miles. Add to the fact the new tarmac is very smooth and shiny, not like the high friction surface that it used to have.
I had several instances this morning where my car was aquaplaning and it was very scary indeed.
I would go as far to say the new resurfaced M4 is the most dangerous road surface i have ever driven on in my 30yrs of driving.
Anyone else experience similar ?. Im surprised there were not multiple crashes today.
So i travel on the M4 daily into London and today was the first day since most of the new surface opened where we have had some heavy rain.
It was very heavy this morning and the water was not draining at all, it was flooding across all 3 lanes for nearly 25 miles. Add to the fact the new tarmac is very smooth and shiny, not like the high friction surface that it used to have.
I had several instances this morning where my car was aquaplaning and it was very scary indeed.
I would go as far to say the new resurfaced M4 is the most dangerous road surface i have ever driven on in my 30yrs of driving.
Anyone else experience similar ?. Im surprised there were not multiple crashes today.
New tarmac does hold more surface water in my experience. It obviously looks a lot darker (black even) and shiny when it's new. This may have made it look smoother.
Maybe they've got the drainage wrong or skimped on it somehow? On the other hand there's only so much that can be done to counter really heavy rain.
I was surprised to find a new 4 lane section on my commute home between Eton (aka Slough) and Reading this evening. Rather took me by surprise to suddenly have the 60 limit start a bit earlier and have acres of tarmac.
It's obviously a Smart motorway now. Are the new sections average speed or what?
I was a bit confused so just left my cruise set at 65 as I normally would for the 60 average zone that had been in place last week. Everyone else seemed to follow suit. Yellow average cameras were still in place and no signage to say out of use. The new gantries displayed what seemed a completely unnecessary 60 limit; I'd have much rather got the hammer down.
Maybe they've got the drainage wrong or skimped on it somehow? On the other hand there's only so much that can be done to counter really heavy rain.
I was surprised to find a new 4 lane section on my commute home between Eton (aka Slough) and Reading this evening. Rather took me by surprise to suddenly have the 60 limit start a bit earlier and have acres of tarmac.
It's obviously a Smart motorway now. Are the new sections average speed or what?
I was a bit confused so just left my cruise set at 65 as I normally would for the 60 average zone that had been in place last week. Everyone else seemed to follow suit. Yellow average cameras were still in place and no signage to say out of use. The new gantries displayed what seemed a completely unnecessary 60 limit; I'd have much rather got the hammer down.
Zarco said:
New tarmac does hold more surface water in my experience. It obviously looks a lot darker (black even) and shiny when it's new. This may have made it look smoother.
Maybe they've got the drainage wrong or skimped on it somehow? On the other hand there's only so much that can be done to counter really heavy rain.
I was surprised to find a new 4 lane section on my commute home between Eton (aka Slough) and Reading this evening. Rather took me by surprise to suddenly have the 60 limit start a bit earlier and have acres of tarmac.
It's obviously a Smart motorway now. Are the new sections average speed or what?
I was a bit confused so just left my cruise set at 65 as I normally would for the 60 average zone that had been in place last week. Everyone else seemed to follow suit. Yellow average cameras were still in place and no signage to say out of use. The new gantries displayed what seemed a completely unnecessary 60 limit; I'd have much rather got the hammer down.
Maybe they've got the drainage wrong or skimped on it somehow? On the other hand there's only so much that can be done to counter really heavy rain.
I was surprised to find a new 4 lane section on my commute home between Eton (aka Slough) and Reading this evening. Rather took me by surprise to suddenly have the 60 limit start a bit earlier and have acres of tarmac.
It's obviously a Smart motorway now. Are the new sections average speed or what?
I was a bit confused so just left my cruise set at 65 as I normally would for the 60 average zone that had been in place last week. Everyone else seemed to follow suit. Yellow average cameras were still in place and no signage to say out of use. The new gantries displayed what seemed a completely unnecessary 60 limit; I'd have much rather got the hammer down.
The 60 limit has been there for while starting about half way to Reading. I've assumed they raise it from 50 when they've finished all the lane and bridge work, so there's no chance of any workmen in the road and they're waiting to activate the elements that actually make it "smart". I doubt this will happen until the whole 30 mile section is completed. Still at least you can make beter progress and traffic seemed more spread out than at 50.
As for the surface, I've not noted anything from a drainage poinr of view, though I have noticed some sections where the car vibrates or hums, due to some irregularities in the surface, fortunately it's not like those awful concrete sections of the M25.
I might've missed out on the really heavy rains when driving on the M4, but never had noticeable issues, even when on fairly worn tyres.
Certainly hate the M25 slab joints more (although you can average higher on the M25 than on the SPECS road), and had aquaplaned on the M25 previously as well.
Not really bothered by the 60 limit, as it sometimes makes for a strategic lane change game, and even when/if it's up to 70, you can't really do much more with it given the SPECS. Traffic mostly flows ok, although London (and the 50 section) is terrible as usual
Certainly hate the M25 slab joints more (although you can average higher on the M25 than on the SPECS road), and had aquaplaned on the M25 previously as well.
Not really bothered by the 60 limit, as it sometimes makes for a strategic lane change game, and even when/if it's up to 70, you can't really do much more with it given the SPECS. Traffic mostly flows ok, although London (and the 50 section) is terrible as usual
prand - I know the 60 limit has been there for a while. What changed this week is it started a bit sooner and the roadworks are complete. No temporary barriers, cones, lane markings etc.
The yellow SPECS cameras are still up. Seems nuts to have 4 lanes of quiet motorway in good conditions and be limited to 60mph. Dropped to 40 today because a car was broken down in lane 1.
The urge to put my foot down is so strong!!
Are the SPECS a permanent feature of SMART motorways? I thought it was the gantries that displayed variable limit and had the cameras. Is this a half way house as the new section had just been handed back?
The yellow SPECS cameras are still up. Seems nuts to have 4 lanes of quiet motorway in good conditions and be limited to 60mph. Dropped to 40 today because a car was broken down in lane 1.
The urge to put my foot down is so strong!!
Are the SPECS a permanent feature of SMART motorways? I thought it was the gantries that displayed variable limit and had the cameras. Is this a half way house as the new section had just been handed back?
4004 said:
SPECS would be a permanent feature on the M4, from what I've read.
Not necessarily in the same format as they are currently. The gantries between 11 and 12 have yellow cameras sprouting from the side, with CAMERA NOT IN USE signs, while the roadworks SPECS average speed cameras are still there. I'd expect they'll be removed at some point and the gantry cameras enabled.Tbf I'm all up for the wider introduction of SPECS on the motorway network. The only reason I speed is because I know the only chance of being caught is fixed camera (come on they're bright yellow and we know where they are), camera van (waze normally takes care of that) or getting pulled by an unmarked police car (don't blast past the 3 series, 5 series, MK7 golf or V40 with an "OU" plate at 80+).
If SPECS was more widely introduced I just wouldn't speed enough to get caught and I doubt many people would venture over 75 which is probably for the best. Point is better enforcement would stop people that don't care about driving and are therefore bad at it - think cheryl in her husband's Range Rover doing 90 in lane 3 about 2 metres off the ass of the poor bugger in front who is actually thinking about what he's doing and making allowances for driving at 90mph.
Us car enthusiasts would still have A-roads and the occasional DC if we really wanna be naughty, just means we're not doing it on a major arterial route adn likely away from other people. Although I do think the speed limit on motorways should be nearer 85 but that's a discussion for another day.
If SPECS was more widely introduced I just wouldn't speed enough to get caught and I doubt many people would venture over 75 which is probably for the best. Point is better enforcement would stop people that don't care about driving and are therefore bad at it - think cheryl in her husband's Range Rover doing 90 in lane 3 about 2 metres off the ass of the poor bugger in front who is actually thinking about what he's doing and making allowances for driving at 90mph.
Us car enthusiasts would still have A-roads and the occasional DC if we really wanna be naughty, just means we're not doing it on a major arterial route adn likely away from other people. Although I do think the speed limit on motorways should be nearer 85 but that's a discussion for another day.
ewand said:
Not necessarily in the same format as they are currently. The gantries between 11 and 12 have yellow cameras sprouting from the side, with CAMERA NOT IN USE signs, while the roadworks SPECS average speed cameras are still there. I'd expect they'll be removed at some point and the gantry cameras enabled.
Do you mean these gantry cameras? Seems quite wasteful to install two separate systems, but either way they'd serve the same purpose (they'll have to keep junction/exit pole cameras though..).Traffic these days tends to be bad enough that you don't want to do much over 80 anyway. Of course there are still nice roads without SPECS out there
Zarco said:
prand - I know the 60 limit has been there for a while. What changed this week is it started a bit sooner and the roadworks are complete. No temporary barriers, cones, lane markings etc.
The yellow SPECS cameras are still up. Seems nuts to have 4 lanes of quiet motorway in good conditions and be limited to 60mph. Dropped to 40 today because a car was broken down in lane 1.
The urge to put my foot down is so strong!!
Are the SPECS a permanent feature of SMART motorways? I thought it was the gantries that displayed variable limit and had the cameras. Is this a half way house as the new section had just been handed back?
In Wales they are dropping motorway speed limits to 50mph as it reduces pollution/air quality in certain areas. Posssibly it’s the same to improve health in Windsor Slough bray Reading. The yellow SPECS cameras are still up. Seems nuts to have 4 lanes of quiet motorway in good conditions and be limited to 60mph. Dropped to 40 today because a car was broken down in lane 1.
The urge to put my foot down is so strong!!
Are the SPECS a permanent feature of SMART motorways? I thought it was the gantries that displayed variable limit and had the cameras. Is this a half way house as the new section had just been handed back?
(However need to ask the politicians in Wales IF I’m driving an electric vehicle with no engine then clearly it must be 70mph for those vehicles as they don’t emit anything when in use.
SPECS appearing on the fun roads too, so be careful what you wish for.
As for the M4, I expect it will go the way of the M1, M3, M25 etc. HADECS on the gantries and the SPECS pulled down when they switch it on.
London end probably completed by Christmas so then they need 3 months to test all the tech. No, I don't know why it takes that long to test all the signs either (signs say completed in 8-9 months but all they have left to do is screw some screens up and pour some concrete from the look of it)
As for the M4, I expect it will go the way of the M1, M3, M25 etc. HADECS on the gantries and the SPECS pulled down when they switch it on.
London end probably completed by Christmas so then they need 3 months to test all the tech. No, I don't know why it takes that long to test all the signs either (signs say completed in 8-9 months but all they have left to do is screw some screens up and pour some concrete from the look of it)
2gins said:
SPECS appearing on the fun roads too, so be careful what you wish for.
As for the M4, I expect it will go the way of the M1, M3, M25 etc. HADECS on the gantries and the SPECS pulled down when they switch it on.
London end probably completed by Christmas so then they need 3 months to test all the tech. No, I don't know why it takes that long to test all the signs either (signs say completed in 8-9 months but all they have left to do is screw some screens up and pour some concrete from the look of it)
Plenty of North Wales A/B roads have these horrid cameras and it’s 50mph sometimes 40mph out of villages towns… crazy. As for the M4, I expect it will go the way of the M1, M3, M25 etc. HADECS on the gantries and the SPECS pulled down when they switch it on.
London end probably completed by Christmas so then they need 3 months to test all the tech. No, I don't know why it takes that long to test all the signs either (signs say completed in 8-9 months but all they have left to do is screw some screens up and pour some concrete from the look of it)
4004 said:
ewand said:
Not necessarily in the same format as they are currently. The gantries between 11 and 12 have yellow cameras sprouting from the side, with CAMERA NOT IN USE signs, while the roadworks SPECS average speed cameras are still there. I'd expect they'll be removed at some point and the gantry cameras enabled.
Do you mean these gantry cameras? Seems quite wasteful to install two separate systems, but either way they'd serve the same purpose (they'll have to keep junction/exit pole cameras though..).Traffic these days tends to be bad enough that you don't want to do much over 80 anyway. Of course there are still nice roads without SPECS out there
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