YEP Letters: April 6

Highways Agency responds to M621 complaints

Drivers on the M621 in Leeds have reacted angrily to a sign on the average-speed controlled section of the motorway which has been cut to 30mph for roadworks. The sign - which says #M621works - has not gone down well with commuters who have taken to social media with the hashtag to make their frustrations heard. Many motorists tweeted asking why 30mph limits had been put in place when it did not appear that any roadworks were being carried out during the day. Highways England replied: “We’ve responded to lots of tweets about these. 30 limit in place whilst central barrier replaced (most work occurs at night but not safe to remove traffic management in the day due to unsecured barrier). Also junctions to close together to allow a 50 limit.” We asked YEP readers for their views and here’s what some of them said on Facebook..

Paula Hanlon

“An unsecured barrier”. One. Singular. It’s been going on for weeks. How long does it take to fix one barrier? Just get on with it.

Laird Glencoe

Every day we read of another major, usually fatal accident on West Yorkshire’s motorways. Grow up and follow the signs. I’d be surprised if it cost you more than a minute.

Stephen Brook

Part of the problem is they have made it an average speed limit of up to 30 miles an hour, that is what has made this worse.

They need to stop it being an average 30 mph and just make it 30.

The reason for this is that it is a motorway, you also have to over take and change lanes depending on traffic conditions, so what’s happening is you’re forced to speed up to filter in or get into the right lane, then you have to slam your breaks on because you had to go above 30 to drive safely to get round something or get into the lane you need to get into, thus reducing your speed to even below 25mph, to get your average speed down between the cameras instead of keeping it at 30mph.

So in effect the traffic is slowing more than it should and the speed at times just gets lower and lower.

Remove the silly average bit and just have 30 mph as the limit.

Also the far lane in parts of this stretch is a little too narrow and I think if they aren’t careful that will cause accidents.

Andy Byrne

The difference in time to drive the entire length of the M621 (7.7 miles) at 50 or 30mph is around six minutes. Seeing as it’s only a fraction of the motorway that is restricted, this figure reduces. It’s not a big deal.

Carl Walker

It’s the main traffic route in and out of Leeds from the south so it is a big deal especially at rush hours.

Paul Biff Robson

I’m obviously timing my journey wrong as getting to work usually takes me 25/30 mins but since the installation of the variable speed control my commute now takes 50/60 mins due to back up. And if an accident occurs, well, let’s not go there.

Angela King

I travel from Morley and accept it takes longer on weekdays due to volume of traffic but now takes almost double the time. And yes, if there’s been an incident or accident ..

Paul Drinkwater

So it’s ok to carry out work on roads without a barrier at 30 mph,but not on the M621? Do the work in the daytime and at night, it’s a no brainer. Get it finished.

Alex Luty

I think it’s an experiment to see if it reduces congestion at peak times, rather than a broken barrier. Could see it becoming permanent?

Mick Bentley

You do the work only at night due to no crash barrier in place, but have mitigated that risk by reducing speed limit, a limit that when on other 30mph roads there is no barrier anyway. So just do the work through the day also and get it finished!

Tom Gath

If it’s at 30mph due to ‘unsecured barrier’ why was it okay to do these same works at 50mph on M1and M62?

Amanda Jayne Turpin

It feels like the wacky races when you overtake someone doing 32 mph!

Chris Cooke

Well they’ve got to pay to put in permanent ‘smart’ speed cameras somehow! It’s all about money.

Fria Hossein

I drive every night through M621 there is no workforce, nothing at night and nothing in the day, this 30mph on motorway is just ridiculous.

Leslie Fuller

It’s the same on the A64 towards York. It will be a nightmare for people going on holiday.

These works are on going for the next four years! I think the Highways Agency need to get the message across on when you can resume 70 mph and when these lights are actually enforced.

Pete Burrows

Guess they plan in installing central barriers on all national speed limit roads too.

Poor reply, trying to avoid the fact that fines will help pay for it.

Kelly Walker

All these fines they are racking up will be paying for the new barrier!

Gillian Brennan

It must be very frustrating for anyone using the M621 every day.

Alison Worsnop

It’s more dangerous when you’ve been driving at 70mph for an hour then suddenly go down to 30mph you constantly have to look at the speedometer to stay at 30mph instead of concentrating on the road.

Matthew Porter

‘It’s not safe to have a limit higher than 30 without a central barrier’.... because every 40mph zone has one? And the junctions too close together? Well not as close as the inner loop, which is, 40!

Operations should be stress free for all

Richard Saberton, by email

Prince Philip underwent hip surgery this week, a daunting prospect for any 96-year-old and we all wish him well and a speedy recovery.

However unlike most 96-year-olds having hip surgery he will not have the added stress of:-

A long and painful wait for his operation.

His operation being cancelled at short notice.

Picking up one of the hospital acquired bugs that are rife in the NHS.

Wondering how long that he will have to wait for a harassed nurse or care assistant to come when he presses his buzzer for assistance?

Getting bed sores.

Seeing so many different doctors that he will need a computer data base to keep track of them.

How he and his wife will manage when he is discharged; can he go home, will he need to go into care, will there be a place available?

No, the only people stressing will be the hospital administrators in case the bed linen is not ironed flat enough.

But don’t worry everything will go like clockwork, smooth as silk, as it should!

As it should for 96-year-old Joe Bloggs down the road who is not well known by anyone. Shouldn’t he get the same stress free experience when he has his hip replaced?

After all his family and friends probably think he is a prince and a gentleman as well.

Why no cricket in the Games?

Martin J Phillips, Leeds 16

I find it rather strange that cricket is not included as a sport in the Commonwealth Games since nearly all the countries who play it are within the Commonwealth.

Perhaps with the 2018 games being held in Australia it is just as well given the recent ball-tampering scandal. I doubt they could have coped with the embarrasment!

Disturbed at talk of abolishing copper coins

DS Boyes, Leeds 13

I think recent talk on possible abolition of the copper 1p 
and 2p coins is very 
disturbing.

Only those over age 60 today can really remember the ‘old’ pound, shillings and pence monetary system, but when partial decimalisation introduced in 1971 the switch from 240 pennies to the £1 to 100 new pence was ‘inflationary’ as the one penny price increase was then 
actually 2.4d, ie 240 per cent more. If the one and two pence coins are eliminated then the minimum price rise increment will be 5p, an enormous increase.

The Euro has 100 cents with coins of 1 cent still in regular use on mainland Europe. Add this to other inflation via metric volumes and weights replacing imperial ones which have always been against consumer interests because of no direct equivalent, the cost of living could soar.

Such obvious price rises fuel wage demands as we saw in the 1970s yet higher wages bought no more due to inflation - do we want to go to go there again? No, is what most would say.