ROAD NEWS
Page 27
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SIGHS OF THE TIMES
• Electronic dot matrix display systems are being used to give advance warning of a major motorway reconstruction scheme being carried out in the Greater Manchester area. The three-year project is Britain's biggest ever roadworks site and could produce larger than normal traffic jams.
To minimise the disruption, variable message signs — produced by Cartner Engineering — will be located at six sites on the M61, M62 and M63. The signs have been commissioned by the Department of Transport.
The first two units have been placed along the Manchester/Liverpool stretch of the M62. These, and subsequent signs at the other sites, will provide drivers with a wide variety of information during the 250 million project which will widen the M63 from two lanes to three at the notorious Barton Bridge section.
The dot matrix signs can carry an infinitely variable selection of warnings and are based on a sequence of 69 characters. They can either be pre-set or provide special emergency information when required.
WALLING THE A3
• A heavily overloaded section of the A3 LondonPortsmouth road is to be uprated into a dual-carriageway. The section is the 4.4km (2.75 miles) length between Compton and Shackleford, just to the south of Guildford.
Roads and Traffic Minister Peter Bottomley says the winding single carriageway road is "unsuited to present traffic flows." The compulsory purchase order covering the land will be made soon.
THE A9 AT KILLIECRANKIE
/ The new section of the A9 near Killiecrankie, Tayside, is to be opened on August 19. This is the last link in a chain of improvements made to the A9 north of Perth. In all, there have been 28 separate schemes spread over the past 14 years. There has been a substantial reduction in the A9's accident rate since the improvements have been made.