Planning Decisions
Should you, Dear Reader, feel that you are coming down with a cold, particularly one which is going for your throat, here is a handy tip wot works.
Yes, Dear Reader, we have been subject to colds. It's the weather, one day it's warm and sunny, the next cool and raining. You don't know quite what to wear and anyway H is at work in a crowded lab with hot-house flowers who like the heating turned way up, then travelling on buses and trains. He's almost as good a source of current infections as an infant-school-aged child. Though I can't see him coming home with chicken pox!
You may have heard about the crash at the Shoreham Air Show - a Hawker Hunter Jet doing aerobatics suddenly fell from the sky onto the A27 on Sunday, exploding into a fireball and killing at least eleven. Investigations proceed.
Some years back a plane either landing or taking off at Southampton Airport misjudged the length of the runway and ended up on the M27.
You might wonder why two airports were built so close to the A/M27. No such thing, the airfields were built by Shoreham and at Eastleigh up to ninety years ago. Parts of Shoreham Airfield has some lovely little Art Deco buildings which have featured as locations in Poirot films (probably in other period dramas too). The A/M27, however, is only forty years old in it's oldest parts. Some bright spark planner looked at the South Coast stretch from Southampton to Brighton - and possibly further at either end, and drew a line along suitable contors.
What said Bright Spark Planner did not do was to look at things adjacent to the planned route and think about whether the proximity was a Good Idea. Clearly having airfield runways which end/begin, depending whether planes are coming or going, a short distance away from a motorway is Not Good. Unfortunately BSP didn't think that, or make sufficient case for diversions at planning comittee meetings when people screamed about additional costs.
The A27 near Shoreham has been blocked for three days now and it looks likely that it will be a couple more days at least before it is opened again. Costs? What additional costs? People who live along the now alternative route which is being used for diversions, will be very glad when the motorway is reopened.
Costs featured in the building of the A/M27 too. It was built of concrete. Concrete is durable. Trouble is it is also Very Noisy when traffic runs over it. People living by the new motorway complained. Again and again. Eventually 'sound shielding' panels were put up by the most inhabited places. The surface has also been gradually tarmac-ed, which means a great reduction in noise - very noticeable when you're driving along the motorway. Trouble is the tarmac surface doesn't last as well as the concrete, potholes have developed. Potholes and High Speed (and drivers regularly ignore the 70mph speed limit on all motorways) do not go together. Cars are damaged, cars are deflected from their courses, sometimes into the path of other traffic, accidents occur.
Apparently the A/M27 surface is deteriorating so much that it needs rebuilding - the BSP never thought that there would be so much traffic, never planned for it! The thought is met with horror by planners and motorists alike. Closing sections of the motorway for total rebuilding and resurfacing will mean traffic snarl-ups for years ro come. Oh dear. There is a perfectly good railway along the length of the South Coast you know, the trains go faster than your car - legally, and no snarl-ups. You don't have to drive. Hmmm.
Some years back when H and I used to go for walks in the Emsworth/Southbourne area, or round Rowland's Castle, we joked that you could tell when you crossed the county boundary into West Sussex. The road surface quality on the back lanes we walked deteriorated. Apparently the majority of potholes on the A/M27 are in a stretch east of the Chichester area - ie: West Sussex. Plus ça change!
Should you be driving along the A/M27, Dear Reader, check your speed. Are you legal? Look out for potholes! And be thankful that you can get along. They'll have to resurface/rebuild eventually. I suggest saving up for train tickets!
And Finally - have some winning jokes from the Edinburgh Festival. BTW - some of the Comments repay viewing. I particularly liked the one about the penguins!
Y'all have a good day now!
- Locate some sage. Red sage is advocated by the Herbalists. Any kind of sage will do, fresh from your herb garden or dried from your herb rack.
- Boil the kettle, put some sage in a tea-ball and infuse for a while. Remove the tea-ball. Allow to cool a little.
- Gargle with the infusion (yes, it doesn't taste very nice, it's medicinal). Keep gargling. Sip the last few Tbsp.
Yes, Dear Reader, we have been subject to colds. It's the weather, one day it's warm and sunny, the next cool and raining. You don't know quite what to wear and anyway H is at work in a crowded lab with hot-house flowers who like the heating turned way up, then travelling on buses and trains. He's almost as good a source of current infections as an infant-school-aged child. Though I can't see him coming home with chicken pox!
You may have heard about the crash at the Shoreham Air Show - a Hawker Hunter Jet doing aerobatics suddenly fell from the sky onto the A27 on Sunday, exploding into a fireball and killing at least eleven. Investigations proceed.
Some years back a plane either landing or taking off at Southampton Airport misjudged the length of the runway and ended up on the M27.
You might wonder why two airports were built so close to the A/M27. No such thing, the airfields were built by Shoreham and at Eastleigh up to ninety years ago. Parts of Shoreham Airfield has some lovely little Art Deco buildings which have featured as locations in Poirot films (probably in other period dramas too). The A/M27, however, is only forty years old in it's oldest parts. Some bright spark planner looked at the South Coast stretch from Southampton to Brighton - and possibly further at either end, and drew a line along suitable contors.
What said Bright Spark Planner did not do was to look at things adjacent to the planned route and think about whether the proximity was a Good Idea. Clearly having airfield runways which end/begin, depending whether planes are coming or going, a short distance away from a motorway is Not Good. Unfortunately BSP didn't think that, or make sufficient case for diversions at planning comittee meetings when people screamed about additional costs.
The A27 near Shoreham has been blocked for three days now and it looks likely that it will be a couple more days at least before it is opened again. Costs? What additional costs? People who live along the now alternative route which is being used for diversions, will be very glad when the motorway is reopened.
Costs featured in the building of the A/M27 too. It was built of concrete. Concrete is durable. Trouble is it is also Very Noisy when traffic runs over it. People living by the new motorway complained. Again and again. Eventually 'sound shielding' panels were put up by the most inhabited places. The surface has also been gradually tarmac-ed, which means a great reduction in noise - very noticeable when you're driving along the motorway. Trouble is the tarmac surface doesn't last as well as the concrete, potholes have developed. Potholes and High Speed (and drivers regularly ignore the 70mph speed limit on all motorways) do not go together. Cars are damaged, cars are deflected from their courses, sometimes into the path of other traffic, accidents occur.
Apparently the A/M27 surface is deteriorating so much that it needs rebuilding - the BSP never thought that there would be so much traffic, never planned for it! The thought is met with horror by planners and motorists alike. Closing sections of the motorway for total rebuilding and resurfacing will mean traffic snarl-ups for years ro come. Oh dear. There is a perfectly good railway along the length of the South Coast you know, the trains go faster than your car - legally, and no snarl-ups. You don't have to drive. Hmmm.
Some years back when H and I used to go for walks in the Emsworth/Southbourne area, or round Rowland's Castle, we joked that you could tell when you crossed the county boundary into West Sussex. The road surface quality on the back lanes we walked deteriorated. Apparently the majority of potholes on the A/M27 are in a stretch east of the Chichester area - ie: West Sussex. Plus ça change!
Should you be driving along the A/M27, Dear Reader, check your speed. Are you legal? Look out for potholes! And be thankful that you can get along. They'll have to resurface/rebuild eventually. I suggest saving up for train tickets!
And Finally - have some winning jokes from the Edinburgh Festival. BTW - some of the Comments repay viewing. I particularly liked the one about the penguins!
Y'all have a good day now!