Re: Pet Peeves?
 

I get your point (I checked the satellite picture), but the roundabout is only accessible at the end of a sliproad, therefore it is not an "at grade" junction, which I referred to above. In other words, it's not like drivers are ploughing along at 70 mph, cough :o, and are suddenly faced with a roundabout in their path.

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

You could, however run into that on the M12, if approaching from the south:

M12 Motorway - Northern Ireland

Also, motorway restrictions technically begin under the roundabout at junction 2, so technically non-motorway traffic on the A3 could end up on the M12, at which point it is too late and you'd have to proceed to the next roundabout and back down the southbound lanes, all while under motorway restrictions, to get back to the A3 again. I do love the hairbrained Northern Ireland motorway network :lol:

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

That's a pig's breakfast, for sure. :blink:

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

It was supposed to be much bigger but once Westminster stepped in during the Troubles, the NI motorway network plans (which you can see in another part of the site I linked to) were basically scrapped so we were left with a bunch of unfinished sections.

While that explains why the motorway restrictions start in such a weird place, it still doesn't explain the 'blue' roundabout.

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

It's a lot like the M41 in London, which was part of a far more grandiose plan which never came to fruition - there is a YouTube video on the plan to have five orbital motorways around London, but none were ultimately completed and the M25 was a hybrid of the fourth and fifth rings, which were cobbled together with some weird junctions, leaving a few telltale signs here and there.

Anyway the M41 was at some point restricted to 50mph (may always have been that way?), and didn't connect to a "proper motorway" at either end. It was eventually downgraded to a regular A road.

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

We also have the A8(M), which is about a mile long, under motorway restrictions, and is only loosely connected to the M2 via the roundabout at junction 3. Utterly pointless.

You should read the 'history of roads' section on that site I linked to some time to see the truly grandiose plans the NI government once had for a motorway network, especially for a country as small as it is.

Also, if you like roads as much as I do (and I suspect you do), this site is worth a look, too.

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

They always have police cars hidden somewhere around road works here. Ignore the speed limit on the construction sign and the fines are doubled

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

All I know is I had a miserable time with roundabouts while over in England with my bro in law and sister on a driving trip up to Cheshire then on to Sheffield. 40 years on LA freeways doesn't teach you much about driving on British motorways. Much against my will I was appointed official navigator since we didn't have a GPS. Trying to figure out which turn off to take on a roundabout with five seconds to spare caused us to do a couple and sometimes three turn rounds before we got it right Kind of reminded me of European Vacation with Chevy Chase doing the roundabout thing in London. It seems funny now but it was a pain in the ass for me at the time

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

Nothing as crude as hidden cops in the UK roadworks. Just a speed camera every half mile.

A few years ago, they introduced "average speed cameras" which calculate your speed between the cameras.

No more speeding up between and slowing down for the cameras. :sneaky:

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

Damn they still havent finished on the I94...lol

It was the same when I lived in WI in 2002 to 2003.

I have never in my life seen as much road work being done as I did when I lived there.

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

Yeah, still going. Between building the I-894 bypass and working on various bits around Mitchell Airport, in Milwaukee and by the zoo and nearer to Kenosha there is always something.

Plus they are doing extensive work on I-43 and I-90 out by Beloit as well. They just like working on roads in Wisconsin, I guess.

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

We had the A41(M) motorway which was about 2 miles long. As kids we used it basically as a place to race. Not much traffic on it. Finally become an A road in 87. They just took out the phone boxes at the side of the road.

It was great to be able to use a fast road as a learner. Initially I think it was 70 mph limit as an A road.

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

It didn't even have any signage to be removed and replaced in green? Even our 1 mile long A8(M) has signs. It may well be the most pointless stretch of motorway in the entire UK though. I don't know why it isn't just downgraded to the A8, since that road technically ends when motorway restrictions begin. They could just redesignate it as the A8 right to the M2 and it would make absolutely no difference (other than traffic restrictions) since a dual carriageway carries a 70 mph limit anyway.

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

Now that's what I call Kontrol.

Generally on the interstates here they use radar or choppers or Highway Patrol to check speeds and on the surface streets there are cameras at stop signs and lights. It's only a matter of time before drones replace choppers for aerial surveillance, much cheaper to operate and they'll be swarming all over the place. That should be a big deterrent if ever there was one.

The most diabolical speed traps I've seen are on the I-40 thru Arizona. The Arizona Highway Patrol park their cars in the hollow dips which separate east and west bound traffic. The dips are low enough to hide the vehicle out of sight of passing cars. The speed limit on a lot of that interstate is 75 MPH so I set the cruise control at 74. They love to give tickets to California drivers above all else.

Re: Pet Peeves?
 

I've yet to see a standalone speed camera in the US. We do have red-light cameras in our town but not for speed. I've fallen foul of those once.

Otherwise, it's usually cops/troopers laid in wait with their radar guns.

On my way back from Atlanta recently (on a Saturday night), I saw several times, cruisers sat waiting with no lights visible, in stretches with no street lights, for speeders. At one point, I saw 2 cruisers together, one pointing each way in the median. :sneaky:

On each occasion, my trusty radar detector alerted me well ahead of time.