ROAD NEWS
Page 25
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DRIVERS CAUSE DELAYS
I/ According to Junior Transport Minister Peter Bottomley, the worst delays at motorway road works are caused by the drivers, not the roadworks.
It is motorists' inattention, leading to minor accidents, that turns minor inconvenience into major hold-ups, explains Bottomley. With many years of experience of major maintenance on our motorways, we have improved traffic management. Contraflows are short. The distance between them is long enough for traffic to sort itself out."
Since 1973 when contraflow arrangements were first used on motorways, they have been improved by more conspicuous signposting and longer, smoother cross-overs. Research by the Transport and Road Research Laboratory has found that negotiating a contraflow is only slightly more hazardous than driving on the open motorway and far less hazardous than driving on allpurpose roads.