[Nowayroundit]

I do not appear to be able to complete a journey without running into at least one set of temporary taffic lights. Are other people suffering the same problems?

Perspective! I am a proffesional driver that clocks up at least 1,000 miles a week on UK roads, usually towing a car transporter trailer with something rather special on board. So I get around.

Between Monday 7th April 2025 - Monday 21st 2025, I drove through, or more accurately was delayed through 37 different sets of temporary traffic lights, mostly in West Sussex, Surrey and Hampshire, 31 during the daytime so I will discount the night occurences. What I am most angst about is that only 3 sets contained hazards (trenches, holes or obstructions). Worse still, bearing in mind it was the working day, only 4 out of the 31 sets had a person working on the site. When I say working, I only mean visible, not physically doing anything I could consider as work. The only exception to this list was on the A286 between Haselmere and Fernhurst where one group of dedicated men were hard at work cutting down trees.

Why all the needless obstructions. If you have work to do, set up your site, do your job and get out of the way, please. This is not difficult, ask the guys on the A286 how its done.

[Rolebama]

Reminds me of how, a few years ago, it was stated that all holiday routes and motorways would be obstruction-free for a particular Bank Holiday. So we decided to go to the south coast and visit the wife's family. All went well 'til we hit the M25. Major congestion around the Cobham Services area. Sure they took away all the cones, but left the reduced speed limit in place.

In answer to your original question, we have been inundated with roadworks and temp lights in the outer suburbs of NW London for quite a while now, which, on top of the HS2 works and diversions, is leading to delays all over.

[olduser]

Looking around locally, (North East) and what I found in Norfolk, the problem appears to be the fashion for outsourcing.

Once a job is planned, a contactor plans and installs the signs, and possibly the lights. (the lights can be hired so delivered separately)
The next contractor digs the hole. (hopefully where it was needed)
Water, electric, gas, local authority do what ever, in the hole.
A contractor fills in the hole and may repair the road, if not another gang will repair the road.
Finally, the signage will be removed along with the lights.

Each stage contacts the next stage to say they have done their bit, the next stage then can start to organise their contribution and with luck start the following day, and so on.

There is nothing more frustrating than being held up, to find no one is working on the site. ☹

[NMNeil]

Slightly similar.
When we lived in LA there was a problem with contractors blocking off a section of a road while they did construction work so they could have deliveries made.
It became a major problem when the contractor would have multiple jobs all with sections of roads closed off, and as in your road works, no work apparently being done.
The answer was simple. Before they could get another permit to close off another section of road, they had to finish the other projects first.
Everyone was happy, except for the contractors of course. 😎

[Rolebama]

What I consider the greater pain is that each contractor has to notify the council that they have finished their bit, before the council notify the next lot to begin their bit. Only to be told that there is noone available at the moment, and we'll get onto it as soon as we have a crew available.

[TC1474]

A lot of the fault with roadworks lies at the doorstep of the local authority.

When the LA plan to do work such as a major resurface, they notify all the utilities and communication firms to explain what is happening and when it will start and therefore if they have any planned work on the section of roads in question, do it before the work commencement date.

The reason for this is because if a (for example) a utility then digs up the road after major works have been carried out, that utility or whoever dug it up again becomes responsible for returning the road back to the condition in which they found it. So in the event of a freshly resurfaced road that is the requirement for the company that dug it up again.

The council are then required to examine the repairs to the road to ensure that they are back in a satisfactory condition and if they aren't, then the company gets a massive fine and they will also have to pay for the road to be repaired properly.

The reality is that this has not happened for years hence the reason why so many roads fall int disrepair so quickly.

Hence the reason why there are so many sets of roadworks using temporary lights. I get notification of proposed road works in my area, and I get on average 10+ a day all covering the same periods.

Yesterday I got caught in about 30 sets of road works controlled by temporary lights in my scheduled route, and much of it was regurgitated where after each utility or broadband company have done their bit, someone else then goes in and digs it all up again to do their bit rather than co-ordinating everything.

This problem has got worse since Police forces did away with their traffic management departments who used to keep a close eye on things like road works and had the authority to prosecute and close down road works which the contractors hated, but it worked as our roads were maintained to a much higher standard.

My local council by the way has in excess of 200 sets of temporary traffic lights, and it is not a big council compared to some.

[Drivingforfun]

There’s a new development of houses on a little road I sometimes drive along, it’s a narrow but straight road and quite busy, often used by lorries

When they built the development they added a little roundabout instead of just a junction, it’s a little one - the size of a mini one - but they built it up using bricks, like they would on a major roundabout

It’s also a bit staggered, so you have to go round it even if you’re just going straight along the old road as the majority of traffic would

Within about a week a lorry had clearly just driven straight over it and now it’s just a squashed pile of bricks 😕

[olduser]

Originally Posted by Drivingforfun

There’s a new development of houses on a little road I sometimes drive along, it’s a narrow but straight road and quite busy, often used by lorries

When they built the development they added a little roundabout instead of just a junction, it’s a little one - the size of a mini one - but they built it up using bricks, like they would on a major roundabout

It’s also a bit staggered, so you have to go round it even if you’re just going straight along the old road as the majority of traffic would

Within about a week a lorry had clearly just driven straight over it and now it’s just a squashed pile of bricks 😕

Reminds me of a taxi driver I once had as hospital transport, he was driving over all the mini roundabouts on the route, this was after dialysis and I was feeling fragile.
Eventually, I suggested he should go around because that is what the law expected at roundabouts but according to him I had got it wrong, the white circle marked the centre of the roads, it would have curbs if it was a roundabout!

[TC1474]

Originally Posted by olduser

Reminds me of a taxi driver I once had as hospital transport, he was driving over all the mini roundabouts on the route, this was after dialysis and I was feeling fragile.
Eventually, I suggested he should go around because that is what the law expected at roundabouts but according to him I had got it wrong, the white circle marked the centre of the roads, it would have curbs if it was a roundabout!

If it is a painted roundabout (not slightly raised) you are allowed to drive straight over it.

Their intention s to provide direction and allow priority for traffic from the right as with a normal roundabout, but it is physically impossible to drive around a blob of paint, hence you can drive straight over.

If it is raised or slightly raised then you should try and drive around it, but again not always possible or practicable, but no offence if you do drive over it.