tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post4290416047789670188..comments2024-03-27T11:51:03.366+00:00Comments on The Ranty Highwayman: Underground, Overground: Should We Be Building Underpasses & Bridges Again?The Ranty Highwaymanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-63936939059739233142014-01-14T06:34:47.766+00:002014-01-14T06:34:47.766+00:00Fair comments. Sloped sides are more expensive (mo...Fair comments. Sloped sides are more expensive (more tricky structurally) and need more land, but again remove hiding places - the disco tunnel is cool!The Ranty Highwaymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-20781668038342104902014-01-13T22:07:24.483+00:002014-01-13T22:07:24.483+00:00There's nothing wrong with a good underpass. A...There's nothing wrong with a good underpass. As you said, the problems with underpasses are often caused or compounded by bad design.<br />The Dutch have gotten pretty good at them in recent years, by doing things like:<br />- graffiti-resistant paint<br />- good sight lines on the approach inclines<br />- a daylight gap between carriageways where possible<br />- most importantly: <a href="http://www.gelderlander.nl/regio/achterhoek/tunnel-onder-de-ondernemingsweg-1.3601090" rel="nofollow">sloped sides</a>, which makes graffiti less interesting, gives kids nothing to lean against and makes the tunnel feel a lot wider than it really is (do hit the "discotunnel" link on that article, btw)<br /><br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-30268172993434800292013-12-19T22:45:41.838+00:002013-12-19T22:45:41.838+00:00Keep up the good work!Keep up the good work!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-54760631110042520442013-12-18T17:28:12.646+00:002013-12-18T17:28:12.646+00:00Luckily, I like the sound of my own voice ;-)
As ...Luckily, I like the sound of my own voice ;-)<br /><br />As I state in my "Why This Blog" page, this is my therapy in coming to terms with working in local government.<br /><br />I find things very frustrating as do colleagues all over the UK, but I am too far along my career to change my views about how the road network needs to be rearranged. We have tried it one way over decades which hasn't worked and so let's try something else.<br /><br />Keep fighting the good fight!The Ranty Highwaymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-67728708564318193552013-12-17T16:25:53.941+00:002013-12-17T16:25:53.941+00:00As a highway engineer I can agree with everything ...As a highway engineer I can agree with everything you've written. It's all common sense. However, you will get nothing because people elect certain politicians who put motorised traffic first and they get the cheapest solution that suits vehicles. Until folk realise that they have to vote for the only party that puts the vulnerable at the top of the agenda, I'm sorry to say you can talk until you're sick of the sound of your own voice. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05824143822481720499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-3943115032069460282013-12-17T12:14:02.454+00:002013-12-17T12:14:02.454+00:00Motorway interchanges are often multi-level becaus...Motorway interchanges are often multi-level because it keeps the traffic moving, building bridges and underpasses is really just the same - it keeps the traffic, bike and pedestrian traffic included, moving. Like you say, underpasses need to feel safe but they are a vast improvement where a busy road might as well be a 200ft ravine if you want to get across it.<br />I hope they do come back into fashion, I can think of plenty of places where I live where there is no safe and easy way of crossing, which then doesn't encourage me to go anywhere near them, especially if I need to get from A to B with kids.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15114021090500627567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-68200238001263162722013-12-17T11:49:25.658+00:002013-12-17T11:49:25.658+00:00"and are affected by level change as person p..."and are affected by level change as person power is!" should be "and are *less* affected by level change as person power is!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-62508870488915344192013-12-16T06:15:59.903+00:002013-12-16T06:15:59.903+00:00And that it the problem. The CS3 example is great ...And that it the problem. The CS3 example is great as the cycle route dips a little bit, but gently and over a couple of hundred metres. The A13 and A406 roundabout is built on an embankment and so it is the traffic which climbs. Steep and zig-zagging ramps are a nightmare to users, especially people using mobility scooters and bikes.The Ranty Highwaymanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17361350433158148025noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1828166865647185633.post-89702395178266211962013-12-16T00:09:58.648+00:002013-12-16T00:09:58.648+00:00I find often grade separated crossings are unfair ...I find often grade separated crossings are unfair to peds and cyclists, it is rare to see a road lowered to accommodate a bridge without an extreme ramp och a road raised slightly so the underpass does not require cyclists and pedestrians to go downhill followed by an up hill (and having to often deal with water puddles).<br /><br />Every time I have to take a huge detour because of an offramp where the designers didn't take bikes into account, I'm frustrated. I wonder if we will see a change in this thinking?Dimohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09023326917125840723noreply@blogger.com