Welsh speed limits - wtf!

[Taffy Blue in Berkshire]

Was down the Gower over the weekend and in Cardiff yesterday.

The f'in traffic was grim coming down and we diverted off the M4 via Newport due to an accident which was a big mistake and took ages. The 50mph zones on the M4 are bonkers and make the journey a right misery. A new road around Newport is essential as the problem isn't going to disappear and having such crap road links would put a lot of people off business investment in Wales.

Then the reduction in speed limits in C4rdf and elsewhere. Came into Cardiff down the A470 now 30mph then along Heathwood Rd now 20mph.

Someone needs to think this through otherwise the city will come to gridlock.

Yes I openly accept that air quality is important and ideally built up areas should be restricted and zones around schools but unless you have an A1 state of the art public transport system and plenty of parking outside the city it will cause mayhem.

What with the state of transport and roads and the NHS in Wales I living in England has its advantages.

[jon1959]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

Was down the Gower over the weekend and in Cardiff yesterday.

The f'in traffic was grim coming down and we diverted off the M4 via Newport due to an accident which was a big mistake and took ages. The 50mph zones on the M4 are bonkers and make the journey a right misery. A new road around Newport is essential as the problem isn't going to disappear and having such crap road links would put a lot of people off business investment in Wales.

Then the reduction in speed limits in C4rdf and elsewhere. Came into Cardiff down the A470 now 30mph then along Heathwood Rd now 20mph.

Someone needs to think this through otherwise the city will come to gridlock.

Yes I openly accept that air quality is important and ideally built up areas should be restricted and zones around schools but unless you have an A1 state of the art public transport system and plenty of parking outside the city it will cause mayhem.

What with the state of transport and roads and the NHS in Wales I living in England has its advantages.

I am not going to get into the 20mph argument on here, but as someone who regularly drives between Sheffield and Cardiff I can confidently say that the motorways around Birmingham are worse than the M4 between Newport and Cardiff - a lot worse.

[Taffy Blue in Berkshire]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

I am not going to get into the 20mph argument on here, but as someone who regularly drives between Sheffield and Cardiff I can confidently say that the motorways around Birmingham are worse than the M4 between Newport and Cardiff - a lot worse.

I was looking at the cost of a train ticket to come down for a game and the prices are nuts. Hardly an incentive to leave the car at home.

[jon1959]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

I was looking at the cost of a train ticket to come down for a game and the prices are nuts. Hardly an incentive to leave the car at home.

I agree. The rail system in the UK is scandalous - expensive, confusing, illogical, unconnected and unreliable.

Why do we have to trawl around splitter sites and become black belts in dodging and weaving through different online ticketing systems to come up with the cheapest rail option? Not cheap - but cheapest. End up with a mix of different types of tickets from a range of different stations and it can cost 15% of the price of a ticket (online or at station booking office) of a ticket from A to B.

No wonder tourists and non-regular train users feel robbed and treated with contempt. It isn't like this in most other countries. Surely it should be possible to create an integrated transport system for the UK with affordable ticket prices and a simple, understandable way of getting the best deal - a standard A to B price with a small discount for early booking and maybe a small premium for peak time.

That said, I still think parts of England can more than compete with the South Wales M4 corridor for worst motorway experience.

I have also spent a lot of the last 4 months at the Heath and dealing with different parts of the NHS in Wales (my aunt collapsed in April and died at the weekend) and in my experience - the parts of the NHS I saw - Wales and England are not very different.

[Dorcus]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

I agree. The rail system in the UK is scandalous - expensive, confusing, illogical, unconnected and unreliable.

Why do we have to trawl around splitter sites and become black belts in dodging and weaving through different online ticketing systems to come up with the cheapest rail option? Not cheap - but cheapest. End up with a mix of different types of tickets from a range of different stations and it can cost 15% of the price of a ticket (online or at station booking office) of a ticket from A to B.

No wonder tourists and non-regular train users feel robbed and treated with contempt. It isn't like this in most other countries. Surely it should be possible to create an integrated transport system for the UK with affordable ticket prices and a simple, understandable way of getting the best deal - a standard A to B price with a small discount for early booking and maybe a small premium for peak time.

That said, I still think parts of England can more than compete with the South Wales M4 corridor for worst motorway experience.

I have also spent a lot of the last 4 months at the Heath and dealing with different parts of the NHS in Wales (my aunt collapsed in April and died at the weekend) and in my experience - the parts of the NHS I saw - Wales and England are not very different.

We used to have that perfect system years ago: they called it British Rail.

[Heathblue]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

Slightly off, but on Topic!!!

ULEZ, the people are deciding by decapitating them

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

Was down the Gower over the weekend and in Cardiff yesterday.

The f'in traffic was grim coming down and we diverted off the M4 via Newport due to an accident which was a big mistake and took ages. The 50mph zones on the M4 are bonkers and make the journey a right misery. A new road around Newport is essential as the problem isn't going to disappear and having such crap road links would put a lot of people off business investment in Wales.

Then the reduction in speed limits in C4rdf and elsewhere. Came into Cardiff down the A470 now 30mph then along Heathwood Rd now 20mph.

Someone needs to think this through otherwise the city will come to gridlock.

Yes I openly accept that air quality is important and ideally built up areas should be restricted and zones around schools but unless you have an A1 state of the art public transport system and plenty of parking outside the city it will cause mayhem.

What with the state of transport and roads and the NHS in Wales I living in England has its advantages.

Transport is crap in England

The NHS is crap in England

We have CCFC

Living in England has no advantages whatsoever

[SLUDGE FACTORY]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

Slightly off, but on Topic!!!

ULEZ, the people are deciding by decapitating them

There has to be a solution to the London traffic issue but khan and his mad idea are not one of them

[Heathblue]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

There has to be a solution to the London traffic issue but khan and his mad idea are not one of them

Its the brainchild of Johnson and basically the policy is saying you can pollute if you want as long as you can afford it, bullshit isn't it ?,

[Taffy Blue in Berkshire]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

Transport is crap in England

The NHS is crap in England

We have CCFC

Living in England has no advantages whatsoever

Well may be I've been lucky because I've been well looked after by the NHS in the main. Agree some aspects aren't so good but was with my best mate in Cardiff yesterday who is getting palliative care for cancer which has now spread throughout his spine and into his skull and the poor chap has not had the response he ought and in a lot of pain. Horrible to see someone in this condition suffering.

[Taffy Blue in Berkshire]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

I agree. The rail system in the UK is scandalous - expensive, confusing, illogical, unconnected and unreliable.

Why do we have to trawl around splitter sites and become black belts in dodging and weaving through different online ticketing systems to come up with the cheapest rail option? Not cheap - but cheapest. End up with a mix of different types of tickets from a range of different stations and it can cost 15% of the price of a ticket (online or at station booking office) of a ticket from A to B.

No wonder tourists and non-regular train users feel robbed and treated with contempt. It isn't like this in most other countries. Surely it should be possible to create an integrated transport system for the UK with affordable ticket prices and a simple, understandable way of getting the best deal - a standard A to B price with a small discount for early booking and maybe a small premium for peak time.

That said, I still think parts of England can more than compete with the South Wales M4 corridor for worst motorway experience.

I have also spent a lot of the last 4 months at the Heath and dealing with different parts of the NHS in Wales (my aunt collapsed in April and died at the weekend) and in my experience - the parts of the NHS I saw - Wales and England are not very different.

Sorry for your loss, RIP.

[+ the native hipster]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

Its the brainchild of Johnson and basically the policy is saying you can pollute if you want as long as you can afford it, bullshit isn't it ?,

dr livingstone, i presume

[JamesWales]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

I am not going to get into the 20mph argument on here, but as someone who regularly drives between Sheffield and Cardiff I can confidently say that the motorways around Birmingham are worse than the M4 between Newport and Cardiff - a lot worse.

The motorway around Birmingham is a nightmare. But it is around an enormous city and the pinchpoint for routes between north and south Britain.
The same can't be said of the M4 in South Wales, which is almost entirely focused on the Brynglas Tunnels and for which under the former first minister, was proposed to be massively helped with a new M4. Drakefords scrapped that.

There is a fashion amongst many in Wales to blame Westminster but this one is on us. Only a fool would open a UK wide distribution business this side of the tunnel compared to Avonmouth etc.

Looking more your way, I have always been amazed how bad the links are between Sheffield and Manchester. The peak district is in the way of course, but still, there can surely be no worse a connection between two so major a cities as that example?!

[JamesWales]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

I agree. The rail system in the UK is scandalous - expensive, confusing, illogical, unconnected and unreliable.

Why do we have to trawl around splitter sites and become black belts in dodging and weaving through different online ticketing systems to come up with the cheapest rail option? Not cheap - but cheapest. End up with a mix of different types of tickets from a range of different stations and it can cost 15% of the price of a ticket (online or at station booking office) of a ticket from A to B.

No wonder tourists and non-regular train users feel robbed and treated with contempt. It isn't like this in most other countries. Surely it should be possible to create an integrated transport system for the UK with affordable ticket prices and a simple, understandable way of getting the best deal - a standard A to B price with a small discount for early booking and maybe a small premium for peak time.

That said, I still think parts of England can more than compete with the South Wales M4 corridor for worst motorway experience.

I have also spent a lot of the last 4 months at the Heath and dealing with different parts of the NHS in Wales (my aunt collapsed in April and died at the weekend) and in my experience - the parts of the NHS I saw - Wales and England are not very different.

Sorry to hear about your aunty Jon. I hope her/your wider family are okay.

I agree on the NHS. Despite different govts for the last 13 years, there is no notable difference. Different stats point to different things and if one is better than another in some areas then it is usually only marginally so.

The fact that there is so different between the NHS irrespective of it being Labour or Tory run should teach us something about the issues it faces and how-to solve them (ie, it isn't political)

[jon1959]

Re: Welsh speed limits - wtf!

We used to have that perfect system years ago: they called it British Rail.

We did. In places we also had a low cost, integrated public transport system that covered, buses, trams and rail.

Crazy idea to even think of bringing it back (but improved)?