www.theislandinsider.co.uk Posted February 15, 2006 Author Share Posted February 15, 2006 Well I'm back from fair old Laxey taken from the road works traffic lights where the tram tracks cross the road near Brown's cafe for cars travelling in the Douglas direction 7:30 - 7:45 55 cars 7:45 - 8:00 45 cars 8:00 - 8:15 27 cars 8:15 - 8:30 33 cars 8:30 - 8:45 24 cars 8:45 - 9:00 38 cars 9:00 - 9:15 13 cars during that period there were also 37 vans, 12 lorries, 2 tractors, 4 buses and 3 motorbikes, hopefully if my maths is right that's 293 vehicles. although i didnt count the cars going in the other direction there were about the same number and during 8:00 - 8:30 probably more. Phil Braidwood says between 8 and 9, 567 cars use the mountain going to Douglas and 488 to Ramsey so essentially were tripling the number of vehicles that go through Laxey village, thats not to include the ones i couldnt/didnt count because they cut through Minorca and Old Laxey Hill. On the brighter side, the traffic rarely built up at the lights, but the DoT did have a dumper truck and road cleaner messing about down there which would cause congestion if there was much more traffic. Also, Phil said in his speech to the Keys that he didnt want to be responsible for the death of a worker on the mountain if he kept one lane open. I would put it to him that he should be more concerned about the children who have to use the bus stop at princes garage. Today one small boy was almost wiped out by a passing truck as he ran on the road playing with his dog. You have to walk down the road to it as the tram tracks are being re-done and theres no footpath. Not forgetting of course the number who'll try and use minorca hill, right next to the primary school. Its a disaster waiting to happen. The narrow roads of Laxey village wouldnt be able to cope with the influx in my opinion. Theres the parked cars from the co-op to the Queen's pub along one side of the road and there was a huge co-op lorry parked outside the shop today, both making the road essentially single carridgeway. finally there's signs up down there to say there's going to be a road closure on 6th May, the day the mountain road supposedly shuts, and if Sumerland's still not finished all this traffic will have to go through Onchan too. I will be sending this to all relevant parties in a hope someone will see sense. Hopefully the keys will veto it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sledgehammer Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 I cannot recall any justification for modifying the layout of the road at Windy Corner or any prior discussion until we are told that the road will be closed for 6-8 weeks. The real problem going through Laxey is the build up of traffic at the Onchan traffic lights because the timings are not re-adjusted for the huge increase in traffic to and from Douglas and Ramsey. What can be done to question the validity for these "essential" roadworks? What assurance can we have that there will be as many people working as is necessary to complete the work in the shortest possible time? Will there be people working from dawn to dusk (and even later) to get this job done? I bet not!!!! I am glad that I no longer have to travel daily from ramsey to Douglas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slinkydevil Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 I'll be making my fortune this TT on Douglas Promenade: Would you like to own a piece of TT history? Your very own piece of the original windy corner tarmac mounted on a mahogony base. £14.95 (standard) £22.95 (personalised) Also available: - T-shirts (original windy corner on front new corner on back) - £12.99 - Phil Braidwood Dartboards - £9.99 Windy Corner Products™ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Smelly Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Ayres Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 Road closes 6/3/06 Does the corner need 'straightening'? Only if you want people to go round it faster. If you drive properly it is already safe. If another two weeks were taken for the work, work finishes 20/5/06 TT fortnight--do the maths. With the reputation of the hedge pigs already, what are the odds on it being finished on time anyway? Of course bikes will be travelling at 100+mph on new tarmac round that corner, rather them than me. What if the works are blamed for the first fatality of the festival? Where wil PB be then? That traffic going through Laxey, plain madness, Laxey is a sod no matter when you go through. I,for one, will be going to work on my bike, nipping in and out of the cars queueing down the hill to get past the lights, flying by the boxes and getting to work quicker than any car and all for 100 mpg. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoneWolf Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 If another two weeks were taken for the work, work finishes 20/5/06 TT fortnight--do the maths. With the reputation of the hedge pigs already, what are the odds on it being finished on time anyway? Interpreter required here. Any volunteers ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilDDog Posted February 15, 2006 Share Posted February 15, 2006 It'll add quite a bit of time onto my working day (30 mins walk to and from the bus station in Ramsey for starters) but that's probably better than suffering the traffic at the wheel of a car IMO. Chopley why not park in shopright car park? Then at least you don't have to walk up the hill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spatula girl Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Looks like we're going to have some action on this! http://www.energyfm.net/news/bulletin.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul H Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 http://www.energyfm.net/news/bulletin.htm Transport Minister Phil Braidwood has already defended the decision to begin the work at the accident blackspot saying if it didn't go ahead now it would be delayed for nearly eighteen months What the Hell is he talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ripsaw Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 I would advocate carrying out the work later in the year if only because... Clicky link type text Bearing in mind that there will be lots of johny foreigner types on that bend within a couple of weeks of the work finishing, never mind the competitors going all out. Unless the surface *needs* replacing (I dunno), a better suggestion would surely be to to lay some of the non slip material (as they have elsewhere) down with a couple of weeks of an enforced temporary speed limit while the surface beds in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Why not just make it a 20 mph zone and put up a couple of speed cameras to make sure that everybody sticks to it? Much quicker than building a new corner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Ayres Posted February 16, 2006 Share Posted February 16, 2006 Why not just make it a 20 mph zone and put up a couple of speed cameras to make sure that everybody sticks to it? Much quicker than building a new corner. Surely it's simple. Start with the inside of the corner and traffic filtered to the outside, signal controlled. When finished open it and do the outside of the corner. Fill in the gravel trap to park all the contractors vehicles, on a temporary basis at least, if the work is successful make it permanent, lovely views up there (when it's not foggy) Plenty of warning both ways and a good splay for the traffic to see what is happening. Temporary speed limit on the approach. I still don't see the necessity though. It's not exactly rocket science, is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.theislandinsider.co.uk Posted February 16, 2006 Author Share Posted February 16, 2006 Mr. Braidwood replied to me!! http://www.theislandinsider.co.uk/news.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amadeus Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 I thought that this thread could do with some photographic documentation of the area in question (Ok - any excuse to go for a drive, really.. ) Windy Corner: Gravel Trap: When approaching the corner from Ramsey, the area on the left of the straight (before reaching the actual corner) has quite a lot of debris on it, indicating that most accidents must have occured there As extra-bonus material: A drive through the corner Clip1.3gp (Camera was operated with the car standing and the clip later edited, speed never exceeded 60mp/h, all laws were adhered to - just in case..... And yes, I was bored....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirdick Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 So, looking at those photos, what will be done to the corner? Anyone fancy doing a photoshop job? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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