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15th January 2009
Page 13
Page 13, 15th January 2009 — • IIlI i[êiiIi'JiI i ,
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

HGV driver Lucy Radley admits to being quite a fan of Active Traffic Management...

What short memories we all have. Last week I woke up at 6am one morning expecting a nice clear hour of running to Tilbury, only to discover that a wagon had crossed the central reservation of the M25 and a large chunk of the northern section was shut.

It took me three and a half hours to make the trip. Even after rush hour had passed, people were stuck on the North Circular the only true ring road for London until 20 years agofor most of the morning. Much as we all love to hate the M25, I for one am glad its there.

In 2006, Active Traffic Management (ATM) started on the M42 to a cacophony of naysayers and sceptics. And it works. I no longer get that sinking feeling when I realise I'll be on the road when the local businesses kick out, because it's really no longer an issue.

Yet wherever you turn, there'll be some numpty saying: "It goes down to 50, then 40, then 30, then back up again and there's nothing there. How pointless is that?" Actually, it's not pointless at all, because the reason there's "nothing there" is because ATM has done it's job and smoothed out the problem.

Oh, and we haven't had the rash of hideous accidents that were predicted, either. While I do agree that some of the night-time speed limits can be a bit random, that's a small price to pay, and the sooner they finish doing the same thing to the M6 the better.

I'm also glad the bottom end of the Ml has now been given this treatment, albeit not completely. Even so, it's the variable speed limits which, to my mind, have the biggest impact. The section of the M25 that passes the M40, M4 and M3 may be pretty dire most days, but imagine how much worse it would be if it was just a free for all. You can find out quite easily, as it goes, because all the traffic jams up at either end of the section.

Much as we hate to admit it, many of the more outlandish sounding schemes turn out to be a godsend once they're actually up and running.

So I shall put my neck on the line here and say that properly enforced HGV overtaking bans are an insane idea, and carnage will result.., safe in the knowledge that I'll be back in this spot at some point in the future sheepishly admitting [was wrong.

Tags

People: Lucy Radley
Locations: London

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