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Post by Hofmeister on Aug 8, 2016 21:49:48 GMT
For me, it is the road to the sun, a road of happy childhood memories. And a road that ALWAYS jams up at Stonehenge. Why FFS? Coming back London bound yesterday lunchtime, it jammed up 5 miles before Stonehenge. As soon as we were past it, literally the moment its past the B post, the traffic speeds up.
Its not as tho its new, its not as tho its unexpected, its been there at that place for ever, and will always be there for ever, so why does everyone slow down to a crawl to gawp at it.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Aug 8, 2016 22:35:48 GMT
Not everyone does. But it probably only takes one in 20 to slow down for the bunching-wave effect to propagate backwards and affect everyone else.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2016 23:04:02 GMT
I used to live in Ottery St. Mary and travel up often to either Reading or Basingstoke. I've seen dawn on the A303 more times than that.
It used to be a whole lot worse than it is now; at least there is loads of dual carriageway these days. Was it Zeals that was bypassed?
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Avant
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Post by Avant on Aug 9, 2016 18:57:21 GMT
Now that we're in north Dorset, quite a lot of our mileage is up and down the A303. There are several places where two lanes merge into one, but Stonehenge is the only one where there are serious delays - sadly due mainly to human stupidity. Wifey seems the stones and says 'Oooh, innit old!' and hubby jams on his brakes. I've no stats to prove it, but I suspect that indiscriminate braking, combined with tailgating, causes more accidents than sheer speed.
It's a lot better on weekdays out of the holiday season, where most motorists have seen Stonehenge before. But you're right Mark - it is a lot better than it was. Amesbury, Zeals, Mere and Wincanton are bypassed, and Ilminster and Ilchester further west.
Diversions through Larkhill (avoiding the Stonehenge section) and A360/A36 via Stoford (avoiding Winterbourne Stoke) are worth knowing.
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Post by harleyman on Aug 12, 2016 9:10:53 GMT
I strongly suspect that many are initially looking for it rather than at it. The signage is quite a way back from the site itself, and I also suspect that many people are actually surprised at how small it is compared to what they've perhaps been led to believe. There's also the problem of stopped cars in the various farm track entrances, together with tourists more intent on their cameras than the passing traffic. I've come close to ending more than one person's holiday before when they've run across the road in front of my lorry.
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