M34?

TM

Hi,The A34 is now one of the roads that has connections for the M40-M4--M3-M1 A40 ETC, and is out of date,my son lives in didcot so we all know what is going on with two large housing estates nearing completion and also Milton park inland port,Tesco and Asda depots hgvs from all over Europe in and out 24/7 and Didcot station for workers in london and other major places,we are going to see lots more problems in the near future,so i have added my name to the list and for the future of all motorhomers i think you should all help,after all it is not going to cost you to help,regards H.

Brings back memories of the M40 Protest!

Maybe we should campaign for Brittany Ferries to Start Operating a Fast Ferry From Liverpool?.

Merseyside to Madrid in 36 hours.

I can Dream.....

TM

(Or Pray, Fly and Count My Blessings )

HOW TO AVOID
For what it is worth, if a person is coming south from the M6, it is very easy to avoid the upper part of the A34 and the M40.
You divert down the M5 to junction 11a which is near to Gloucester. Turn off here at J11a and go along the A417 which will run into the A419 towards Swindon and then M4.
At the M4, turn left towards London and pick up the A34 where it crosses the M4.
This avoids the upper part of the A34 and is only 5 minutes longer, and that is assuming the A34 and M40 were running freely.
I have, happily, used this route for many years and it is much nicer!

edit. I forgot to say.
This route goes up Birdlip Hill and apart from the hill, it is all dual carriageway!

Fascinating stuff ! Thanks, I'll ask that they get a display copy at the local library. It will have the print read off it...

Grath's idea is a good one. The A417/A 419 are not without their problems but not anything like the A34 and I would advise anyone who can do to avoid the A34 stretch from the M40 to the M4. It can block solid within a very short time and there are few places to leave it, if you are moving at all.

Remembering all the massive fuss over the Newbury bypass, I suspect that the government are not too willing to tangle with the same anti-road lobby anytime soon. That, however, is a great success and not having to plough through Newbury is a huge time-saver.

G

But hasn't exactly what the protesters said come true? - they predicted that building the road would encourage traffic and NOT relieve congestion - the very reason for which it was proposed!

So why are you suffering congestion, if the road is doing what it is supposed to do?

(ex-Oxfordshire C.C. traffic engineer - many years ago.)

I suspect that the reasons there is so much congestion is more to do with the vast number of newhousing estates, offices, industrial and trading estates built locally as well as an overall increase in lorries going to and from the docks. The Newbury bypass- from the M4/A34 junction at Chievely southbound, usually runs reasonably freely. Many of the lorries going south from the M40 leave at this junction to go along the M4. The congestion after the M4 junction used to be caused by traffic having to go through Newbury. Not having to do that is a vast improvement but that, for us north of this area, was not usually a problem.

We also have several significant hills - the Ridgeway for example- between Oxford and Chievely and this slows lorries particularly, causing tailbacks and accidents as cars try to overtake. There was an experimental area where they confined lorries to the inside lane but this seems to have disappeared recently so we must assume it did not work.

Did you have anything to do with the 50 mph on the stretch through
Botley ? That seems to be more honoured in the breech but it would be interesting to know if the speed limit plus acoustic banks has had any effect on the quality of life for people alongside the road.

It's flowing freely at the moment ...or was 10 minutes ago !

G

Thanks Grath,

I am going to try that route.

Trev

Trev, I have used it loads of times with a truck and to the service area at Newbury, there was only 5 minutes in it, (Tackograph verified from Stoke) and if there was any delay on the M40 or A34, it would have been much quicker.
Apart from that, it is a nicer drive

[quote="Grizzly"]This is because "improved" roads encourage new developments just as the objectors predict and eventually make things worse not better.

Why do you think I gave up on traffic engineering?
I realised it was a dead end road.

Nope, I was there when Abingdon (& Botley) etc. were moved into Oxfordshire. The 50 limit at Botley and North Hinksey was way after my time.